The Ebb and Flow of the Evening Tide
by teslasward
Summary: Hasook may seem like the good-for-nothing prick who left the Fire Ferrets, but there's a reason he dropped off the face of the earth so suddenly. This is his story.
1. Eliminating the League

While storming out of the prep room, Hasook takes a passing glance back at the curious girl standing next to his so-called teammates. He couldn't figure out exactly what was off about her, but she certainly didn't give off that same obsessive vibe exuded by the Fire Ferrets' other crazed fans. Anyway, at that moment, the particulars of who this girl was meant nothing to him. All he wanted to do was get out of the arena and away from everyone.

After hastily changing out of his gear and stuffing the rest of his posessions into a small navy bag, he closed his locker and hurried down the hallway out onto the pier.  
He walked back and forth along the metal handrails for what seemed like an eternity, looking out at the sun slowly setting over Yue Bay. When exhaustion and boredom had taken their toll, Hasook swung his legs down over the edge of the pier and sat back silently, sitting on his hands. As a gull glided sliently on a thermal in front of his face, he slowly raised his right hand and stared intently at its palm.

"Why can I never do anything right?", he thought to himself, "I've trained and trained, but even the simplest moves take forever. I'm a sitting turtle-duck in the arena. Figures that I'm like the only waterbender guy that can't do those grandiose moves."

Sighing slightly, he got up and brushed himself off before collecting his things and walking back to the trolley station.

He pays his fare and boards the train word, taking his spot on the window and watching the storefronts pass by in a slow blur.

Before long, he was home. He walked through the maze of dark alleys typical of the slums greeting passerbys with an emotionless glance and a nod of acknowledgment. Finally he came to the small home wedged between tenaments, wiped his feet and trudged through the door.

"Hasook honey, where have you been? You never take this long to get back from the arena. I was ready to go platypus bear on someone if something happened to you." His mother rushed to greet him and tried to mask her look of concern with faked happiness. Her clothes were worn and faded and her hands were marked with the evidence of hard labor, but she somehow kept an air of beauty. A few stray hairs fell from her bun as she brushed the dust off of Hasook's shoulders. He tried to avoid making eye contact, but she clearly sensed something was bothering him. "Hasook, is everything alright?" She placed a hand on his cheek as the tea kettle whistled loudly from the next room. "Oh, hold on, I'll be right back."

As his mother dashed off into the kitchen nook to take the tea off of the fire, Hasook dropped his sack next to the door, kicked his shoes off and kneeled at the low table to await her return. All of a sudden he heard a loud crash and the whirr of steam. Rushing into the next room as fast as he possibly could he saw his mother kneeling on the floor cradling her arm next to the broken tea cups.

"Mom! Are you okay? What happened?"

"I'm..fine. I just slipped is all." She removed her hand from the injured arm, revealing the seared flesh underneath. She winced slightly, but then attempted to crawl over to the shattered teacups to clean up the mess.

"Mom, you're burnt, you're not fine. Don't move, I'll be right back, I just have to get some water." Bursting through the front door her rushed to the small water gauge outside and turned the nozzle to allow water to flow into the house. Rushing to the kitchen, he quickly filled the sink basin with water. "Hold on, ma." He carefully raised a sphere of water from the basin and used it to coat his hands. Placing both hands on the burn he focused as much as he could until the warm blue glow of healing began.

Hasook certainly didn't have the raw waterbending talent he'd seen in the other pro-bending teams, but healing was the one aspect of waterbending at which he acceled. Being healed by a medic's waterbending as a child was the earliest memory of bending he could recall and one of the few from before his father's death.

Both of his parents were non-bender immigrants to Republic City from the Waterbending tribes of the Western Earth Kingdom, the tribe jokinly referred to as the Foggy Swamp tribe. They realized he was a waterbender when as a toddler during a temper tantrum he involuntarily flung water from his bath all over his them. Hasook grew up without a teacher as his mother had no extra money to pay for an instructor and there were no waterbenders in their neighborhood from whom he could learn. Saddened by the fact that she could not provide what her son wanted, Sepay tried to show him what she remembered from seeing benders back home in the swamp.

The faint blue glow pulsated in the dimly-lit room and Hasook could feel the warm flow of chi in the water. After almost an hour of remaining static, Hasook removed his hands from the burn revealing a radically improved appearance. He unraveled the strip of cloth covering his forearm and bound the wound loosely. "There," he said smirking, "that should heal much quicker now. Still, I think you probably shouldn't go to the laundromat tomorrow." He cradled the bandaged arm and looked his mother in the eye.

She averted her gaze and said solemnly, "Dear, if I don't go, they'll just get one of the hundreds of others in line for work to take my spot. I can't afford that." Hasook couldn't see clearly in the dimly lit room, but his mother's eyes appeared reddened with forming tears.

"Mom, when you asked me earlier if everything was all right, I meant to say it wasn't. I'm not cut out for pro-bending, I just can't get the hang of it and my teammates just aren't supportive. I'm going to sell my uniform back and tell the laundromat owner that I'll cover your shift for the next couple days."

"Hasook, I..."

"Mom, you're not going to convince me otherwise so just sit back and let me do something for you for once." He helped her up off the floor and led her to her small bed on the wall. He hurried back to the kitchen nook to clean up the broken tea cups.

While sweeping, his mind drifted to scenes from earlier in the day: the match, the strange blue-eyed girl, the train ride back... and out of nowhere, Bolin. The mental image of this green-eyed boy snapped him out of his daydreaming. "what am I even doing? Pro-bending is ancient history, I need to do what's best for me and mom right now. I can't be lingering in the past." Despite this little self-scolding session however, Hasook just couldn't get Bolin's face out of his mind. Why was this mysterious girl so fascinating, so much so that he barely took notice of Hasook leaving. He'd always been on far better terms with the earthbender than his brother Mako. Maybe it was his sense of humor or that dopey look on his face, but Hasook felt like Bolin was more of a friend than just a teammate and it hurt that he hadn't even really taken notice of his departure. 


	2. The Daily Grind

It always puzzled Hasook how the sunlight always managed to navigate through the dark alleys of the Shu Dai slums every morning and obnoxiously peek through his tattered curtains, but it wasn't something that bothered him, just something that proceeded to catch him off guard no matter how prepared he thought he was.

Hasook figured life was the same way. No matter how much he prepared for what was around the bend, something unexpected could and would always catch him off guard. The incedent with the tea wasn't all the out of the ordinary. He was used to treating burns. Workers from the laundromat would always come back with skin irritated with lye and the chemical burns were sometimes severe. No, what caught Hasook more off guard than anything yesterday was how Bolin was so intently focused on the tall, toned, water tribe girl while he stormed off after arguing with Mako. Who was she and more importantly, why did he care? It's not like he was trying to impress anybody with his little tirade, but for someone he'd considered a friend to barely notice? That hurt.

He walked over to the small water basin next to his bed, bent over and splashed himself away with a little waterbending.

"You can't keep doing this to yourself Hasook," he thought while staring at his reflection in the rippling surface of the basin, "Mom got burned pretty bad last night and all you can think of is that green-eyed doofus. What's the big deal if the 'Fabulous Bending Bros' aren't your biggest fans? You've gotten along decently well without them before." A few drops of water fell from his nose and disturbed the calming surface. Waves distorted his reflection.

After washing up, he grabbed a few yuan from his savings box and ran down to the street vendor to buy some turtle-duck eggs and some fruit. He knew that the clutch of eggs and fruit couldn't even compare to the home he'd hoped on one day buying for his mother, but even so, Hasook wanted to do all that he could to make life easier for her. He made an omelet and cut up some papaya on an old dish and left the meal on the small table near her bed. "I'll be back later mom."

The ride to the East ward wasn't particularly long, but the 10 minutes felt like hours to him. In his haste, Hasook forgot to grab a ticket while at the station and thus was riding black. "It'll all be okay as long as I don't get caught. Just act natural and hope for the best." He quickly grabbed a newspaper left behind by the man next to him and began reading to try and calm his nerves. Nothing really of note, just the usual opinions pieces and editorials about the Equalists, the city's wacky anti-bending political party. After a near eternity he heard the screech of the trolley brakes and the clanking of doors opening. He'd made it.

Stepping out of the car, he could seelong pipes crisscrossing the adjacent roads like vines in a jungle, their source being the large bleak building before his eyes. Steam billowed out of the multiple chimneys on the roof and satomobiles came and went in the blink of an eye, dropping off laundry or lye. He'd been here before, but the caustic smell of the lye still burned his nostrils with each breath and made his eyes water gratuitously. After taking a few glances around the area, Hasook walked through the main entrance, only to be struck with a second blast of the burning lye fumes. He navigated through the crowds of busy workers to the back of the establishment where the overseer sat insulated in his own little room. The bulbous man gestured for him to come in.

"How can I help you young man?" A menacing grin appeared on his face when Hasook walked in with a humble posture.

"I'm here to fill in for Sepay today and tomorrow. I'm her son, Hasook." The grin on the overseer's face disappeared immediately and in its place a look of discontent glared coldly at Hasook.

"Fine. Today only. If Sepay does not return tomorrow, I will find someone else to fill the position."

"Thank you sir."

"Shut the door on your way out kid." He coughed audibly. Hasook complied and left the room as quickly as he could, noting the predatory glare in the large man's eyes following him as he reached his assigned post. His apron and cap were quickly pulled on and the shift whistle blew loudly overhead. Following the example of the others near him, Hasook throughly scrubbed each piece of clothing in the lye mixture before passing them off to the next series of workers on the line. Thinking creatively, Hasook used his waterbending to quickly clean each piece of clothing he was given so he could maximize his profit for the day. After twelve hours of hard labor, the final shift whistle resonated through the building and the workers queued up outside the overseers office to receive payment for the day's labor. 650 Yuan wasn't anything to write home about, but Hasook was happy to be making any money at all.

Deciding he needed some fresh air after a day's worth of breathing toxic fumes, Hasook took a long walk home and crashed in bed with his curtains wide open.


	3. Gift from Another Age

A strangely strong breeze blew through the half-open window and hit Hasook's face like a racing satomobile. His eyes snapped open in an instant and before he could mutter so much as a yawn, he felt a dull burning sensation pulsating from his forearms. Looking down, he recognized the source immediately: in his haste and tiredness, Hasook had forgotten to scrub the remaining lye and other chemicals off of his skin. Amateur mistake. He let out a frustrated grunt, shook the hair out of his eyes and waddled begrudgingly over to the shallow washbasin. Without even so much as a cursory glance, he pulled two orbs of water up onto his hands and the warm blue glow eased over the reddened patches of skin. After about half a minute the skin returned to its normal coloration. "Well at least I can do this right." He smirked at his own reflection and finished washing up.

His mother had already left for the day by the time he walked into the small kitchen nook. He looked around for a few seconds and called out, "Mom?", but there was no reply. As he approached the small produce cabinet, he saw a note written his mother's distinctive script.

[[ Hasook honey, thank you for managing my shift yesterday. You're a lifesaver. I know you don't consider yourself good at waterbending, but you always manage to fix me up just fine. Mrs. Gaibei stopped me on my way out because she found something in her husband's chest she thought you'd like. I left it under your bed. I'm sure you'll love it. Love,  
Mom ]]

"Under my bed?" he thought to himself, "How did I not notice anything there this morning?"

He rushed through the room to his bed, pushed the small washbasin aside and saw a long rectangular box staring back at him. "Could it be a new sash or something? Mrs. Gaibei isn't exactly someone I'd consider to be up on what teenage guys are into. Judging off of what her usual 'gifts' consist of, it's probably just some 'sacred stick' or something." He sighed and hunched over to pick up the peculiar box. Because he was totally ready for the usual disappointment, Hasook barely paid attention to what was in the box when he opened it. As he began to get up and walk away, the contents caught his eye. A scroll. No, two scrolls. His interest piqued, Hasook turned back around and raised an eyebrow while picking up the mysterious scrolls. He looked intently at the scroll caps: one was the symbol of the Water Tribes, the other was some odd white and gray swirling pattern that he didn't recognize. "Cool."

Within the span of a few seconds the scrolls were uncapped and carefully unrolled onto wooden table. He quickly grabbed some bowls to hold them down.

"No way..." was all he could get out before staring slackjawed at the unravelled treasures. One was a scroll of waterbending moves. Everything. Traditional forms he'd only dreamed about. The scroll had to be at least from the time of the war, if not earlier. The other scroll looked even older, the parchment heavily yellowed and cracking. It took him a second to realize what exactly he was looking at, but it was a chart of the body's pressure points, each one having a name.

Dumbstruck with disbelief, Hasook was only snapped out of the trance by the whistle of the teapot on the fire. "Later," he told himself, "I'm definitely reading these when I get a chance later. Maybe if I practice with these, I won't have to quit the Fire Ferrets after all." He grinned while grabbing his bag and pulling his shoes on.

With the flip of the water lock his father had designed, Hasook left the small hutch and walked smiling down the shadowy Shu Dai alleys to the Eastern harbor. Not even the sanguine smell of the market's day-old fish blood and entrails could kill this good mood. Whether his mom realized it or not, she'd basically given him a better present than he could have ever hoped for. The light-hearted smile disappeared when he heard the boisterous voice of Xiang Chen, the owner of the dock.

"Hasook, get that dopey grin off of your face and high-tail it over here, pronto! There's some mooks over there who need help unloading shipments from the Fire Nation. If you can unload it within the hour, I'll toss an extra 100 yuan onto your pay for the day."

Hasook's eyes perked up at the promise of extra cash, "T-Thanks Chen!I-"

"That's Mr. Xiang, boy." Chen winks at him and whispers, "I have to keep up appearances that I'm a tough guy otherwise these newbies would eat me alive."  
He yells, "Now get to work!"

"Yes, sir!" Hasook hurried off to the ironclad ship and promptly began helping lower the large cargo boxes from the deck.

While he worked, all that he could think of were the two scrolls he'd been left earlier in the day. Each time he had to heave a rope he pictured tubular streams of water undulating between his hands. The cargo boxes became chunks of an iceberg that he'd calved off with waterbending. The other docksmen were puzzled about why Hasook was wearing that dumb smirk even when doing such backbreaking labor. Some seemed almost envious that he didn't seem at all bothered by the tedium. Before he realized it, the end of shift whistle blew and he was walking over to Chen to receive his pay. 600 yuan. 700 with the little bonus for unloading the ship quickly. Not too shabby for what seemed like a perfectly easy day. Pocketing about 600 of it, Hasook walked over to the fish market to buy some catfish meat for tonight and tomorrow's meals and walked back up through the alleys to his humble home.

When he walked inside his mother still wasn't back. Even though she stayed for at least an hour overtime every day at the laundromat, Hasook still walked into the kitchen with the hope of seeing her there waiting for him. She was the reason that Hasook wanted so badly to succeed at pro-bending. He knew that if the Fire Ferrets won the championship pot, they could not work for a year and still live very comfortably. It would only be fair payback for every convenience and luxury his mother had forsaken in caring for him alone as a widow in a booming city. Whenever he came home to the empty house he'd wonder what it would be like if his father hadn't been killed all those years ago while building the dam. His mother would be home cooking with the help of a maid, his father would walk in coated in dust and mud and they wouldn't be stuck in Shu Dai, but rather in an apartment somewhere downtown like they'd always planned. But life doesn't always work out like a dream and sometimes it feels much more like a nightmare.

(flashback in a sepia tone to 12 years ago)

A 6 year old Hasook is playfully trying to bend some water out of a bowl to knock over the wooden soldiers his father had carved for him on his birthday. His mother was quietly washing the dishes and humming a playful melody to help pass the time. Suddenly, there was a loud knocking on the door and a panicked yell from outside, "Sepay!" Hasook looked up at the sound of his mother's name and followed her with his eyes as she rushed to the door. It was a friend of his father's, caked in the same dust and sweat his father brought home every day. He couldn't understand exactly what was being said, but he saw his mother gasp and hold her hand to her mouth. She started to cry violently and fell to her knees grasping onto the man's tunic. He bent down to hug her and reassured her that everything would be all right, but his voice wavered slightly as if he was unsure.

After a few hours his mother finally came out of the back room, her eyes red with tears. She kneeled down in front of him, silent.

"When's daddy coming home? I miss him." he said innocuously, not realizing what had happened.

His mother bit her lip and managed to say to him, "Hasook, daddy...daddy's not coming home today."

He didn't understand. "So is Mr. Fuda making him stay long?"

"No honey. Daddy...daddy's gone. He's not coming home today or tomorrow or next week." When the realization hit him, he didn't say anything or make a sound. He just began crying and fell into her arms.

The next day he remembered a tall, unfriendly man in a dark suit coming to the door to see his mother. She invited him inside.

"Your husband Haska was crushed when a chain holding a large turbine broke loose" he said coldly, "since the company is of no direct fault in this matter, you will receive only his severence pay for the week." He pulled out a small purse from his coat pocket, opened it carefully and pulled out 15 100 yuan notes and placed them on the table. "Good day." He walked out unapologetically, slamming the small door behind him.

Hasook's mother didn't move or say anything for the next three hours. She just sat there silently, staring at the banknotes.

(flashback to modern times)

Hasook walked over to his bed and grabbed the box containing the scrolls. He glanced at the clock in the kitchen to check how much time remained until he had to head over to the bending arena: 3 hours, more than enough time to get a little practice in. Grabbing a few stray nails from the kitchen, he carefully hung the waterbending scroll on the wall above his bed. With the furniture out of the way he positioned himself next to his waterbasin and studied the positions in the top row of the scroll carefully.

"Water Whip" he read off of the document. With a careful movement of his hands he slowly drew up a column of water from the basin, then shifted his hands inward to form it into a small sphere. While twisting his body and arms fluidly around the water, he elongated it into a thin cord. Mimicking the motion of the last figure to the best of his understanding, Hasook forced his right hand forward and brought his left hand close to the chest; the water flicked and cracked a small vase on the opposite side of the room.

After two hours had passed he could replicate each of the skills depicted on the chart with reasonable speed and skill, not bad for the self-proclaimed failure of waterbending. As he heard the clinking of the locks on the door he quickly drew any water he'd spilled onto the carpet or furnature into the basin and plopped down innocently onto his bed as his mother walked in.

"Hasook? Why do you look like you're up to no good?" She said maternally as she looked at him from the doorway. Just as he was about to answer, she noticed the scroll hanging above his head and smiled gleefully. "I knew you'd love it! Does your mom know you or what?"

He smirked back at her and couldn't help but laugh.


	4. The Strike from the Shadows

His stomach was full with the wonderful salty taste of flambeed catfish and the dishes were clean, life was good. Hasook smiled at his mother from across the room as he gathered up his probending gear into the navy duffel bag. He slung the bag over his shoulder, grabbed his waterskin in case he needed to bend on the fly and waved goodbye as he walked out the door.

The sun had already set and the alleys of Shu Dai were as dark as ever. Even so, Hasook knew the way like the back of his hand. He'd been walking along the path since the day he first learned to walk. As he approached the edge of Shu Dai, electric lanterns began to illuminate the way, basking everything in a warm hue of gold. After walking for a little while, Hasook finally reached coastline looking out onto the central peninsula's glistening highrises. The only sound he could hear was the faint lull of waves hitting the pier and the distant hum of the trolley. Realizing he was about to miss his trolley, he darted as fast as his legs could carry him to the small stop down the road. Pantin, he handed his ticket to the foreman and boarded the nearly empty car.

Not even ten minutes into the ride, Hasook felt a sudden jolt as the car screeched to a halt. Curious, he got up to glance out the window, but the darkness made it nearly impossible to see anything clearly. The foreman had stepped outside and was looking at something, but what exactly, Hasook didn't know.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news," he said as he re-entered the car, "however it seems the tracks ahead have been damaged so that the trolley cannot proceed. Future Industries apologizes for this inconvenience and hopes that you reach your destination safely. Good night."

Hasook looked around in awe that no one else on board seemed at all perturbed by this. He thought to himself, "Don't these people have anywhere to get to? Why else would you be on the tram so late at night?" When he noticed that still no one had reacted, he just shrugged, collected his things and climbed out of the car onto the quiet street corner. Having no real idea where he was, Hasook hurried over to the nearest tram stop he could find to look at the map.

"Fenghuang Street? That's like 30 blocks from the Arena. Damn it." He kicked the metal post of the sign in frustration before angrily walking off in the direction of the Arena. "At least I made it to the central peninsula..."

Judging by what he'd seen on the train map, Hasook figured that the quickest way to the Arena quarter would be to just follow the coast. After walking along a few side streets he saw the glistening waters of Yue Bay again with the piers projecting into the horizon. The silence was eerie. He'd worked on these docks before, but always during the daytime when they were bustling with tons of people and freight. Seeing it so empty and lifeless was unsettling. As he passed the Main Eastern Pier, he noticed the time on the tall, free-standing clock: 19:30. He only had 30 minutes to get to the Arena before the Fire Ferrets were slated to go on. Panicking he decided to try and navigate through some of the alleys unlisted on the main map as a way to try and cut travel time. With his equipment bag secured on his back he quickly weaved through the tiny passages, judging his progress through intermittent glances at the nearby pier. By his estimates he was only about 10 blocks away from the arena now. He'd definitely make it with time to spare.

While running through the streets he was brought to a stop suddenly when out of the corner of his eye he spotted a member of the Agni Kai gang intimidating a young couple. Just as he was about to run over to assist them, two ninja-like men in tight olive green bodysuits and what looked like gas masks hopped out of the darkness. The surprised ganster quickly shot a few blasts of fire at them, but they dodged them easily. With a fluid series of movements the one man quickly immobilized the gangster's left arm while the other took out his legs. The quickly tied him up and pulled him onto their cycles without a word and drove towards Hasook. The taller of the mysterious assailants seemed to notice Hasook was wearing pro-bending pads on his calves and arms and quickly signalled the other. They hopped off of the cycles effortlessly and sprang towards Hasook in silent flight.

Instinctively, he quickly threw off his gear bag to make it easier to dodge and uncorked his waterskin. He was used to probending sure, but fighting against opponents who were actively trying to harm you rather than just win a game were two completely different things. Luckily, probending had made Hasook relatively flexible so he was able to dodge the first bout of attacks narrowly. The pair landed and immediately charged him from each side. Thinking quickly he froze some of the water into needle-like icicles and quickly flung them at the attacker on his left. This however opened him up to a strike to leg by the other attacker before he could retaliate. Feeling the tingle of numbness in his leg, he realized exactly what he was fighting against: chi-blockers.

Thoughts raced in his head. "I can't let them keep getting hits on me or I'll be helpless!" Realizing that long range bending was probably the only way he could fight them without opening himself up to attack he withdrew a large amount of water from the skin and created a ring around himself.

Noting the defensive stance he'd taken, the chi-blockers broke coordination and attacked from different angles trying to get around his defenses. While the defense allowed him to fight off attacks from any angle, it was extremely difficult to track the two ghost-like attackers with any sort of precision.

He felt three short pointed strikes to his left arm and the water beneath it fell to the ground. As quickly as he could he used his left leg to whip the fallen water back at the attacker as blades of ice. He managed to slice his thigh, but the wound didn't seem to slow the barrage down at all. Fighting with only one bending arm he tried desperately to maintain his defense, but the quick painful strikes kept adding up. His left arm and right leg were blocked now, but he wasn't prepared to go down quietly. As the shorter assailant ran in for an attack on his right arm, Hasook quickly spun around and absorbed the blows with his chi-blocked left arm. The pain was pretty intense, but it provided him with the opening he needed. Using his free arm Hasook quickly solidified a thin blade of ice and stabbed the the attacker through the shoulder, sending him reeling. Eager to end this as soon as possible, he kicked up a ball of water with his left leg and quickly bent it into the water whip with his arm, sending the chi-blocker flying backwards. The taller one seemed unfazed by the attack on his teammate and quickly ran in for an assault on Hasook, managing to get in a single hit on his shoulder before being flung back by a water blast. The other was too injured to continue and retreated slightly to the cycles while the taller kept fighting Hasook to a standstill. After what seemed like an eternity the chi-blocker managed to hit most of the major points in his arms and legs making his bending almost non-existant. Not one to be deterred by adversity, Hasook quickly shifted to fighting hand to hand with attacker. A swift kick to the torso cracked the blocker's rib and like his teammate he somersaulted backwards to his cycle and sped away.

Breathing heavily, Hasook fell to his knees in the pool of motionless water below him. The plaza's clock read 8:15. Shit. 


	5. Arise in the Rain

Hasook sat there kneeling in the pool of water as the last few drops trickled out of the waterskin at his side. He moved his arms in an attempt to bend but nothing happened. He tried to stand up but once he'd gotten to his feet, his knees gave way and he toppled into the dark pool below him. As time passed a few drops of rain began to fall from the sky as he laid there watching the clock tick in some form of cruel torture. 9:00. Just as the last bell resonated through the plaza, Hasook felt his arms begin to ease up. His bending was back just in time for a torrential downpour. Realizing he'd missed the match entirely he put his face to the sky and just screamed. He'd let the team down, but more importantly, he'd let himself down. This match was critical for the team to win in order to make the finals, to win the championship. And it was over, because of his stupid bad luck.

He wanted to go explain himself to Bolin and Mako, maybe beg for their forgiveness, but the deed was done, they'd have been disqualified by now and most likely unwilling to listen to excuses. He hoped that Bolin would be at least a bit more understanding than his brother considering he valued the earthbender as a close friend, but not even that could be guaranteed.

Feeling crestfallen and defeated he collected his gear that was strewn across the square, swung the dark bag over his shoulder and began the long walk back home.

Whereas the rain depressed many people, Hasook's mother always saw it as a blessing that washed away mistakes and gave one a chance to better themselves. Personally, he thought of this as just another piece of superstitious hogwash from the Swamp, but his mother's incurable optimism was contagious and sometimes he could trick himself into believing it long enough to relax. He took a deep breath and thought about the events that just transpired. He recalled how he felt weaker with each progressive strike, how the chi-blockers weaved in and out of his flighty pro-bending moves with no trouble and how helpless he'd felt sitting there in the rain. Just as thunder crashed in he distance he thought about the scrolls his mother had given him earlier: the waterbending scroll and .. The chi network scroll!

"Of course! How could I have missed that!" he thought.  
He remembered when he was a boy how he'd fallen and injured his leg while playing with father in the park. An older woman saw this happen and quickly came over and offered to heal him. As the warm blue glow enveloped his leg he had asked her how it worked and she had told him, "it rearranges this energy called chi so that your wound heals faster on its own."

He'd known about how waterbending healing worked but never really had thought of it in that context before. If waterbending could change the flow of chi to help a wound heal, perhaps it could unblock points blocked by these mysterious assailants.

Excited at the thought he rushed the rest of the way home and lit a small lamp in the kitchen to read the second scroll. At this point he hadn't regained the bending in his left arm so it would prove to be the perfect test. Using his right arm he drew the water out of his soaked clothes into a floating sphere. He lined his right hand coated with the water up with the points on his left arm shown on the chart and began healing. After only about 30 seconds he was able to bend using the arm. Success. As the small globules of water moved with his fingers, his arm felt instantly freed from the shackles of chi-blocking.

Hearing the commotion in the kitchen, his mother stumbled out of bed, "Hasook honey, what's going on? Why are you still up? How did the match go?"

"It didn't" he grunted as the small droplets fell to the floor.

"It didn't? What do you mean it didn't?" She leaned against the wall and crossed her arms with a concerned look on her face. "Did your team lose?"

His fists clenched tightly at the word and he squeezed his eyes closed in a pained expression. Taking his cues, his mother walked over behind him and placed a hand on his shoulder. She ran her hand through his dark hair.

"I don't know" he muttered, "I never made it to the Arena."

There was an uncomfortable silence in the room for almost a full minute before his mother worked up the courage to ask what had happened. He explained how the tram had broken down and he was forced to walk to the Arena, how he was short on time and decided to cut through the alleys, how he'd seen the chi-blockers take out a gangster and how they'd attacked him.

"Hasook! Honey, are you okay? Did they hurt you?" He explained how they'd blocked his bending bit by bit, but he'd managed to get away by the skin of his teeth. Before he could finish speaking, she'd already removed his gloves and calf pads and examining the small bruises left on his skin where he'd been hit.

"I managed to get away, but only because I scored a lucky kick into the one guy's side. I think I cracked his rib. When I got back here I had regained the bending in one of my arms so I decided to try and use the chart you gave me to heal the other with waterbending. It worked." His fingers twitched a the small droplets of water rose off of the table and hovered in mid-air in front of them.

"Honey, I'm so glad you're okay. The only thing I'm confused about is how did they get so close to you if they were non-benders?"

"They were really acrobatic and seemed to know all of the pro-bending moves and how to avoid them. The only time I was actually able to land a solid hit was when I used the water whip I taught myself from the scroll earlier today."

Sepay looked over to the wall above her son's bed and noticed the yellowed parchment secured with a hook. "Your father always thought that pro-bending took away the power that the traditional styles held and this cements it. If these goons are trained to fight against pro-bending styles, then you have to learn traditional bending." She looked at him intently and placed her hands over his. "I wish that I was born a bender so I could teach you, but I'll have to do the next best thing." She walked calmly over to the cabinet and pulled out a meager jam jar filled with a small roll of 10 yuan bills. "Take this. Go to the market tomorrow and buy another scroll if you can find one. I was going to use it to help buy you a nicer uniform when the Fire Ferrets reached the finals, but your safety is more important than aesthetics."

He reluctantly accepted the small roll she'd placed in his hand and hugged her.

"And I want you to go see those nice boys tomorrow to explain what happened. I'm sure they'll understand. Mako and Bolin, right?"

"Yeah."

"Good. then it's settled." She stood up and kissed him on the forehead. He watched her walk back to her bed and dozed off sonn afterwards. 


	6. Bartering for a Future

The cacophonous cawing of the lizard crows circling above the Shu Dai district jarred Hasook out of his sleep. He scratched his back and forced himself to his feel. Looking at his arms and legs, he could still see the bruises tracing his chi network. He drew up a small blob of water from the basin near his feet and ran over the bruised limbs with the warm blue glow of healing. After he was satisfied with the results, he walked over to the small mirror hanging on the wall and teased his hair into a pleasing style. Shrugging slightly, he pulled on an old tunic and wrapped his arms in cloth to hide the darkened flesh.

He walked into the kitchen nook to find a small portion of catfish with a diced papaya half sitting on a platter with a small note scrawled in his mother's hand.

[[I made a nice little meal for you, dear. I hope you enjoy it. Good luck today! Love, Mom]]

He smiled and put the note aside and took a big bite of the seared fish. His mom always made the best meals. After washing the plate thoroughly, he grabbed his navy sack, set up the lock and walked out the door.

The sun illuminated the shadowy alleys with a golden light and Hasook could clearly see the central peninsula ahead of him across Yue Bay. He grasped the small roll of money that he'd been handed the night before tightly in his hand and walked down the meandering alley to the pier. Chen acknowledged him with a nod of the head as he walked past, turning to yell at the day-laborers haphazardly handling wooden crates out of the hull of a ship bearing the Fire Nation emblem. Hasook walked to the next pier and paid the fare for ferry and climbed aboard, wedging himself between some tourists from Ba Sing Se. What he'd forgotten was that the ferry was in no way a direct transport to the Central Peninsula, but rather a circuitous trip around the city, finally stopping near the Government Quarter almost an hour and a half later.

He had never been more relieved to get off of the water than in that moment. The hoard of tourists exited with a roaring murmur and left poor Hasook squished up against the handrail. He brushed a mixture of food crumbs and dust off of his shirt and walked onto the dock.

Like the piers near Shu Dai, the ferry's pier was bustling with activity. Merchants with carts loaded with everything from fine Kyoshi silk to butchered fish meats shoved past him in their fight for a spot in the bazaar up ahead. Gyatso Plaza was considered unique in Republic City because it was strictly a pedestrian zone with no satomobiles allowed. The expansive square was a city within a city. The stalls were arranged like city blocks with each shopkeeper laying out his or her wares for the passerbys to see. Although the maze of goods from across the world was extremelt tempting to explore, Hasook quickly scanned the rows for any Water Tribe insignia, hoping to find another waterbending scroll buried within.

After wandering aimlessly up and down the plaza for an hour, he finally stumbled on a small hutch hidden in the Northwest corner facing the direction of the Arena district. The entrance was covered with a tattered blue cloth bearing the crescent moon and waves he'd been searching for. Cautiously he peaked inside to see and old woman reclining on a fur covered chair.

"Can I help you sonny?" she screeched "If yer not here to buy somethin', scram!" She pounded her heavy driftwood cane on the earthen floor.

"U-Um, I do plan on buying something, if I can find it..." His voice wavered slightly as he fiddled with the canteen on his hip.

"Well don't just stand there then, get in here! I can't well help ya if I don't know what yer lookin' for now can I?" She smirked sarcastically, revealing a nearly toothless gumline. Despite her unsettling appearance, Hasook ducked his head under the entrance and walked into the small shop. The place was packed wall to wall with heaps of things, even if there was by some miracle a scroll here, it'd take 100 years to find it. "So what're ye lookin for stretch?"

He was confused by the comment until he realized that to the tiny old hag, he probably looked as tall as an ostrich horse. "Waterbending scrolls. Do you have any?"

She stared at him intently for a second before bursting into laughter. He stood there silently shifting back and forth until ther laughing spell ended with a few emphysemic coughs. "waterbending scrolls! Who do I look like? Gan Fu?"

Hasook didn't get the reference.

"Of course I have waterbending scrolls ye little whippersnapper! What author are ye lookin' fer?" She took his silence as a cue that he had no idea what was happening.  
"Seein' as ye look as confused as a catfish on land, I'm gonna assume ye don' know an author." She sighed and turned around to face the enormous pile of things behund her. Effortlessly she picked about 7 scrolls out of the mess while muttering, "Folks these days don't know nothin' no more."

She gestured for him to sit down and laid the scrolls in front of him.

"Can I look at them?" He asked innocently.

"Only if you buy em'"

His mouth bent into a slight snarl. "I'm not going to buy scrolls without at least seeing some of what they hold. For all I know you could be trying to sell me some blank scrolls."

"Yer smarter than ye look" she cackled "Fine. I'll show ya some of each scroll." She carefully untied the cords binding the scrolls and unrolled them partially onto the reed mat.

Hasook gazed in amazement as he saw all sorts of bending forms he'd never even dreamed of. So much more than the first scroll could ever offer. Having lived in the Shu Dai much of his life, Hasook knew that the key to scoring a bargain with seedy types like this old lady was to not seem interested at all until you get the price to where you want it to be. As such, he hid his excitement behind a stone face and made his first offer. "300 yuan for the lot"

"300 yuan? These ancient treasures are worth at least 1000."

"That's a shame. I'm sure I can find similar scrolls elsewhere for a more reasonable price." He started to get up to exacerbate the faked indifference.

"700" she said.

"I still stand by 300" he said as he pushed himself up on his haunches to stand.

"650 and I'll throw in this Swamp style scroll."

"350"

"500"

"375" He kept his cool composition as the old woman quickly began to panic.

"450"

"390"

"Fine. Deal. Take the scolls and get out of my shop!"

"Thanks for the scrolls" he smirked schemingly as he walked out of the dark stall.

As he strutted out into the sunlight satisfied with his purchases, he saw Bolin and Mako out of the corner of his eye with the Water Tribe girl from before. He was tempted to go over and speak to them, but they disappeared into the masses. Just as he was about to turn to head home, he was struck in the face by a rough newspaper. Right when he was about to tear to offending scrap into bits, he stopped at the sight of that same Water tribe girl in the headline photo. "Republic City Welcomes Avatar Korra" he read out loud. "Avatar...Korra." Scanning the rest of the page for more details he noticed a small editorial about the Fire Ferrets making it to the final round. He had to read the story a few times to himself before it really sunk in. "Fire Ferrets pull a come from behind victory with the help of the new Avatar."

He stood silently in the middle of the plaza grasping the newspaper in his left hand and the bag of scrolls in his right. "Not only did someone replace me, the Avatar replaced me." Dumbstruck by the realization, he walked home in a daze and slept for an hour before beginning to train with his new scrolls.


	7. Confronting the Spectre

A few days had passed since he'd bought the scrolls from the crazy old witch for a steal. Chen had told him that there was a hold-up on shipping for the week due to some suspicious cargo found when the police inspected an incoming Earth Nation ship. He didn't know exactly what was meant by suspicious, but all that mattered was that his job at the pier wasn't going to happen. Luckily, he had a enough money left over from the extra shifts he'd taken the previous week to carry him and his mother through.

Taking advantage of this unexpected downtime, Hasook walked down to the marshes outside the city limits and began to practice the techniques intently. After a week's worth of full-day practice sessions, he'd managed to get a pretty good handle on a lot of the techniques in the scrolls. The techniques from the so-called "Swamp Style Scroll" he'd gotten as a throw-in came particularly easy to him, but they differed immensely from the styles emphasized by the other scrolls. He wasn't particularly surprised that the skills from this scroll came easier to him, given his family's heritage, but he never anticipated to pick them up so quickly. Eager to test some of his new found talents, he fashioned a few rudimentary targets out of fallen logs and reeds and positioned them in groups 2, 5 and 10 meters away from himself. The first move he wanted to test out on a target was the Swamp-Style water blast which resembled some rudimentary pro-bending moves, but was a lot more powerful. Spacing his feet wide apart he pivoted on his hind foot while using his hands to quickly draw up a thick column of water from the marsh. Using his front foot now, he followed the movement of his arms, accelerating the water far faster through his hands, smashing the desired target to rotten splinters.

He stood there in the stagnant water, mouth agape at what he'd just done. Pro-bending was nothing compared to this, just a cheap knock-off of the traditional arts. Gleefully, he repeated the technique thrice more each time admiring the force of the attack.

Satisfied with his progress with what he called the water cannon, Hasook moved on to trying another more physical move. Drawing blobs of water over his hands and forearms as if he was going to heal, he immediately solidified the liquid into icy gauntlets. Although they appeared very blunt in form, by changing the orientation of his hand, they reformed into long sharp icicles protruding from his wrist bangles. Dashing at the farthest set of targets he turned one of the icy gauntlets to steam to hide himself and then proceeded to slash the dummy with the sharpen icicle, leaving a deep gash on its chest.

Schocked by the depth of the inflicted wound, he decided to try one of the styles from the "Defensive techniques" scroll: The Octopus Form. He drew a large ring of water around his feet and gestured his arms upward as the drawings had shown, attempting to form the tentacles. Eight unstable pillars of water raised from the ring, but soon collapsed again. "Ok. Not as easy as it looks" he muttered while trying once again. After many failed attempts he finally acheived the thick powerful water tentacles the technique was named for. Closing his eyes for a moment to focus, he could control each independently, but his newness to the technique limited the number he could control simulatneously to 2.

Before the week was through he taught himself a few more defensive techniques with ice and steam shields, but his favorite by far was the ice counterattack. It involved first drawing up a curtain of water to absorb an attack then immediately freezing it into hail and launching it at the attacker and each little hailstone could be controlled independently if he really focused.

The weather began to warm up rapidly as the height of summer approached and as such, Hasook transitioned over to thinner tunics and forwent long sleeves in favor of wrapping his arms with cloth. He'd become accustomed to waking up to the warm light of the sun through his small window. It had been almost two weeks since the chi-blocker incident on the way to the Arena and Hasook decided it was about time he went to speak with Bolin and Mako. Knowing full well that it was unlikely he'd find them together during the daytime hours, he figured he'd have to find them separately in their habitual hangouts. For Bolin, that meant the Central Station near the Statue of Fire Lord Zuko, where he usually tried some sort of scheming with Pabu in tow. He hopped on the train towards the Central Station and disembarked 10 minutes later into the hustle and bustle of the midday rush. Scanning the crowds for Bolin's characteristic hairstyle and his big green puppy-dog eyes, he couldn't see him anywhere, but Skoochy, Bolin's mischevious friend was near the Statue, scheming some poor unaware tourists out of their yuan.

"Skoochy!" he yelled over the noise prompting the dirty face to glare at him "I need to talk to you!"

Rolling his eyes, the deceptively young-looking boy forced his way through the crowd.

"Whaddya want HaSUCK?" he snarled, "Ya cheated me outta scoring a hundo off those idiots from Ba Sing Se! This better be good."

"Where is Bolin at? I need to talk to him."

"I'd tell ya, but my memory is a bit fuzzy. Maybe you could refresh it?"

Reluctantly Hasook pulled out a 10 Yuan note and handed it to the miniature businessman. "Here," he grunted, "Just tell me what you know."

"I saw him heading over that way with some weird looking clothes. He had Pabu with him. He said he was going to set up camp over by the Mung Don Fountain over there." He gestured to the big fountain in the northwestern corner of the Station. "Now scram, I got business to take care of!"

As the dirt-caked boy ran off towards a crowd of Fire Nation tourists, Hasook turned his sights on the Fountain and walked over. After forcing his way through some unruly shopkeeps who were fighting and mobs of ignorant tourists, he spotted Bolin in a ridiculous red and gold outfit, setting up what looked like a balance beam while Pabu cleaned his feet with his mouth. He rushed over to the young earthbender. "Hey Bolin!" he yelled. The green eyes looked back and forth rather confused and unable to tell where the the calls for him were coming from. Finally, Hasook waved his arms to attract his attention. "Bo! Over here!" Bolin smiled widely with his upper lip obscured by the ridiculously fancy fake mustache and stood up to greet him. Pabu hopped up onto his shoulder as he stood up.

"Hasook? Is that you?" He ran up to hug him.

"Personal space, Bolin, we talked about this."

"Oh yeah...right." he said as he stepped back slightly and grabbed Hasook's hand to shake it.

"Bolin. I'm just messing with you." Hasook wrapped his arms around Bolin and patted him on the back.

"I-I knew that!" he laughed self-consciously. "Come sit down! Haven't had much business today anyway!"

He pushed the small balance beam assembly to the side and invited Hasook to sit with him on the mat. Bolin kneeled down next to him on the mat.

"So what's up?" he said innocently.

"Well I wanted to come apologize for missing the match the other day..." he diverted his eyes.

Bolin's expression dimmed slightly as Hasook mentioned the match. "U-Um.."

"I know that you guys made it to the finals." Hasook smiled slightly for a moment. "You guys did what you needed to do to get to the final round. I understand."  
He rested his chin on his hand and looked someone distant. "Also, she's the Avatar, so I'm sure she blows me out of the water. No pun intended." He laughed lightly.

Bolin chuckled at the pun, but his eyes sank in sympathy when the undertones of what Hasook was saying stuck. "Hasook...We never meant to replace you, we just sort of had to...because you weren't there. It wasn't anything personal, man." Bolin patted him gently on the shoulder. "I'm sorry." Hasook didn't seem to respond. It was like Bolin's words just passed right through him as if he wasn't there. "Hasook?"

In response, he spoke slowly, but firmly so that Bolin could hear him over the lull of the crowd around them, "The reason I never made it the Arena that night wasn't because I was mad or leaving you behind. I was attacked on the way there."

Bolin's facial expression turned from sadness to shock in an instant. "You were w-what?"

"Attacked. By some weird dudes in full-body suits. They had these really scary looking masks on and could chi-block. I was able to fight them off, but not before I got my right arm and left leg chi-blocked. I don't know who they were, but needless to say I wasn't in the best condition after the fight."

Bolin sat there mouth agape unable to form words. After about a minute of silence he finally spoke, "Hasook...I...I'm so sorry that happened to you...We never thought that something could have happened...I guess Mako being frustrated with you stopped me from even thinking of something like that."

Hasook turned to look at him without changing his expression. He brushed the hair out of his eyes. "I don't really care about that. That was just an accident that you couldn't have known about. There was nothing you could have done to prevent it."

Bolin raised his eyebrow in disturbed confusion at Hasook's response. "Y-You're not mad about that?"

"No. Like I said, you and Mako had no other choice, you had to get to the finals." Hasook hesitated for a second and clenched his left fist with his right hand. "I-I guess what ... bothered me was that you didn't even seem to notice when I left. It hurt."

"I-I was just distracted with Korra there. I didn't mean to upset you man. I honestly didn't think you'd take it so personally." He shifted his eyes back and forth and fiddled with his fingers. He had to do something to break the silence. "Hasook?"

Hasook looked up slightly worried, but tried to not let it on. Did Bolin know that Hasook somewhat liked him? Talk about an awkward conversation.

"Hmm?"

"U-Um, this might be a little awkward..."

"Shit" Hasook thought. Panic raced through his head. "He totally knows."

"...were you hurt because you're my friend or...because you like me?"

Hasook couldn't even look at him. He was too red in the face, he couldn't acknowledge it. It would ruin him.

"I mean both are okay..err...I mean I don't personally..err..feel THAT way about you, but... Oh Jeez." Bolin shrugged and wiped some perspiration off his forehead.

With his nails digging into the flesh of his other hand, Hasook was able to grunt out a respond. "The answer is yes, Bo, both. It's a stupid one-sided thing and I never meant for you to find out about it. God, I'm so embarrassed." He buried his face in his hands.. I don t really care if people know, it s just something I don t want going around as a rumor that could be used against me. Just forget this happened.

Concerned, Bolin patted him on the back reassuringly. "I'm flattered and all, but ... that's just not my thing. No need to be embarrassed, bro. If anything, I give you credit for having the gusto to say it at all though. I talk a big game, but actually going beyond a little fun flirting, I'm a total coward." He made an attempt to laugh.

Hasook sat there silently, somewhat saddened by the realization, but still, he respected Bolin more than enough as a friend to believe his word. A warm wind blew through his hair and shifted the long bangs out of his eyes. He stood up and grabbed his bag. He faked his best smile, took out a 100 yuan bill and placed it in Bolin's can.

"Thanks, Bo. Give Mako my best. I know you guys will do great in the finals. I'll see you around." He turned to walk away.

"Hasook! You're still my friend dude, come by and train sometime."

"I will, I just need to finish up teaching myself a few new techniques. Later." He gestured to Bolin from behind and walked off into the crowd. Though he held his head high to hide what he was feeling, his face betrayed him with a pained scowl.


	8. Memory of Solitude

As Bolin's voice faded into the murmur of the crowded station, all that Hasook could think of was how things had gone exactly NOT like he intended.

"At least Bolin isn't mad at me for missing the game, but.." he thought, "but, at the same time, now he know's that I sorta had/have a crush on him. GREAT."

Hasook grunted and lightly smacked himself in the forehead as he forced his way through the masses, trying to get back to pier so he could catch the ferry home and try and forget today even happened. He hadn't felt as taken off guard as he did in that moment since his mother blatantly asked him about a hookup a year ago.

(flashback)

Hasook and his mother are in the small kitchen nook washing dishes together to prepare for having some guests over the next day. Unlike most sane individuals, Hasook and Sepay loved washing dishes because it was so menial and repetitive that their minds could wander away from whatever was troubling them. They usually worked in silence with a few quick quips to one another, but today was different. Hasook was whistling a jolly folk tune he'd heard as a child, but stopped immediately when he noticed his mother put down the dish she was washing and go to dry off her hands. As she walked back over to the sink, he began to whistle again, not thinking much of the strange break in routine when all of a sudden a pair of arms were wrapped around his waist and pulling him away from the soapy basin.

"Mom! What are you doing?" he laughed "You're going to get the soap all over my tunic!"

She didn't respond and just kept hugging him from behind.

"Mom?" he said as he turned around inquisitively. She looked up at him. He'd just gotten his growth spurt and now was slightly taller than her, a fact he took much pride in, but that wasn't the only thing that had changed about him. "Mom? You okay? With those big eyes you're starting to look like one of those mind slaves from Ba Sing Se that Old Man Ju was talking about last time he visited." he laughed at his own joke, but the noise eventually died down when he noticed that she still hadn't said anything. Her arms were soon unbraided from his waist and she caught him by the hand and led him over to the meager table, sitting down across from him with a slight smile. Thoughts immediately began racing through his head, "What is happening? Is she sick and she's afraid to tell me? Is she seeing someone? eww This is getting really weird."

After a minute or two of the uncomfortable silence that had Hasook fidgeting in his chair, his mother finally spoke. "Hasook?"

Almost shocked at the sound of her voice after the apparent muteness, Hasook reeled back as she said his name aloud. "Yeah mom?"

She smiled and placed a hand on his. "So, when are you going to see that nice boy Dao again?"

Hasook stopped breathing. The room was so quiet he could hear the gentle creaking of the wooden roof in the cross-breeze. He replayed the last sentence in his head about a hundred times before really grasping what had just happened. Had his mother really just said the name Dao? As in the name of the boy he'd met at Crazy Chong's the other night, the one he kissed in the bathroom and the one who'd walked him home? Dao as in the boy who'd kissed him right in Shu Dai when he thought everyone else was asleep? The scene replayed immediately in his mind on infinite loop. They'd just gotten back from the club and Hasook was insistent on parting ways near the pier as to not arouse any suspicion, but Dao had coerced him into thinking everything would be alright because everyone was asleep. Dao had taken him right up to the front step of his home and kissed him goodnight on the lips. All Hasook could utter in response was, "Thanks Dao, you too." Now he knew he'd signed his own death warrant courtesy of Mama Hasook.

He sat there with his jaw slacking and his eyes as big as tea saucers. In the best feigned ignorance he could manage he uttered, "w-Who?" Hoping that his mother was mistaken and had just seen a branch or something in the window.

"Oh don't play dumb with me mister!" she said as she playfully slapped his hand, "That cutey-pahtooty with the slicked back hair you came home with the other night. The one who smooched you!"

Hasook felt every nerve in his body simultaneously let out a blood-curdling scream. As he gave his best attempt at a grin, his face and body shook with anticipation of what would happen next. He was sweating bullets and hadn't the slightest idea of how to even respond.

"Ummm..." was all he could manage before freezing up, "y-you saw me?" He bit his lip and squinted his eyes closed.

"Yes honey! Look at my little boy growing up so fast!"

"W-W-What!" He nearly yelled in shock. "What are you talking about?"

"Hasook honey, I know about the kiss."

He could almost feel his insides dropping out through his butt. He just wanted to die.

"Good for you! You certainly picked a cutie! Don't look so terrified! I know that you like boys."

Yup. He definitely wanted to die right then and there. No question.

"I found an entry card from Chong's in the pocket of your nice pants one day when I was doing laundry. It's okay honey! I'm not mad at all. I'm just happy you found such a classy guy! I just want you to be happy. Nothing else matters."

He was still at a loss for words. He teared up slightly and hugged her. He didn't ever have the heart to tell her that Dao was just a one-night stand.

(flashback to modern times)

The sounds of the crowd around him were unbearable. He just needed to get away from it all and have some peace and quiet. After half an hour of pushing and shoving through the midday rush, Hasook finally reached the pier. The fishy and salty smell of the Bay washed over him and things in his head were finally starting to ease up a bit. Despite the momentary reprieve, his stress soon returned when he realized that the ferry had just set sail from the docks. Panicked, he ran to the small ticket stand and tossed the fare and an extra 50 Yuan on the desk. As he grabbed the ticket and ran towards the edge of the pier the dock attendant yelled to him, "Sir! The ferry has left, please wait for the next one in an hour!" Hasook was in absolutely no mood to wait an extra hour in this place.

Securing his bags in place on his back, he backed up slightly and began flat-out running towards the edge of the pier. "Sir! Stop! You'll fall into the bay!"  
Undetered by the panicked dock attendants running after him, Hasook leaped confidently into the air, moving his arms and legs to draw up a column of water into a frozen ramp. He landed gracefully on the top and began sliding down the incline, liquefying the ice behind him as he went. He quickly froze a patch of water at the ramp's bottom into a small boat-like shape and used the straight armed styles he'd practiced the past week to propel himself unbelievably quickly towards the departing ferry. As he entered the boat's wake and closed the distance between them, he repositioned his feet and forcefully struck down with his arms to create a vortext of water to launch him into the ferry. Realizing he'd miscalculated slightly, he grabbed a long tendril of water mid-air and flash-froze it into a foothold with which he slid gracefully onto the wooden deck. Passengers looked at him like a madman while he turned and liquefied the small ice boat and ice tendril into pools of water behind him.

He turned around smiling at the terrified tourists. The timid ticketmaster hobbled over to him and adjusted his glasses. "S-Sir? May I see your ticket?" He held out a shaking hand and Hasook placed the ticket and a few coins into his hand.

"There you go. Hope that covers it." He smirked at the quivering old man and walked through the shocked crowds towards the bow of the ship. He could see the storefronts of the Eastern shore facing him and knew that he'd be home soon and out of the public where he had to put on a smile to prevent from being noticed.


	9. The Crossroads of Revolution

Before long, the steam-driven ferry had reached the Shu Dai pier. Before the disembarking ramp could even be deployed, Hasook saw Chen in the corner of his eye and carried himself down from the deck on a small column of water. The guardsmen on board were going to attempt to stop him, but decided it wasn't worth the time or the effort and turned a blind eye.

"Chen!" Hasook yelled as he jumped down from the fountain of water below him. "Do you have any work for me?"

Chen grinned toothily at him, revealing his multiple glimmering metal replacement teeth. "I thought I told you to call me Mr. Xiang you little swamprat!"  
He patted Hasook on the back. "I'm sure I could find something for you to do. How bad do you need some moolah?" He whispered the last sentence so that the other workers didn't hear him, lest they undermine his authority.

"Not terribly at the moment, but it's always nice to try and save some up in case anything happens, ya know?" Hasook patted the larger man on the gut. "Kind of like how your gut's storing some energy for you as you always say." They both laughed heartily at the joke.

"You're good, kid. Quick on your feet with a wit to match Wan Shi Tong himself! Come back here same time tomorrow and I'll give you some stuff to do. We're supposed the clean a couple of the city's cargo ships and I could never have too many waterbenders for the job."

"Thanks Che..Mr. Xiang." he winked, "I'll see you tomorrow then." Hasook waved goodby and ran off towards the labyrinth of alleys leading to his home.

For the middle of the day, it was oddly quiet. The only sounds he could hear were the Peng family's sparrowkeets causing a ruckus and the light breeze whipping through the thin alleys of Shu Dai. Within a few minutes he was in front of his home and he could smell the sweet aroma of his mother's famous stew wafting through the window. He opened the door to find his mother in the kitchen.

"Hey mom." he said as he tossed his bag to the ground in its usual spot. He dragged himself over to his bed and plopped down into the sheets on his back.

"Oh! Hi honey! How did things with Bolin and Mako go?" The one question he was hoping she wouldn't ask. Why he expected anything less from his wonderfully observant mother, he didn't know, but he had hoped to just avoid the topic altogether. The deed was done and the topic on the table, no turning back now. He sat up on his bed and leaned forward slightly with his hands on his knees propping him up. Taking in a deep breath, he finally gave his answer.

"I went and met Bo over in the Central Station plaza around noon."

"And?" She walked out of the kitchen nook with her hands on her hips and a wooden spoon stored for convenience in her ponytail. "Did you make amends and explain what happened?"

"Yeah," he hesitated, "after I told him what happened with those chi-blocking dudes, he was totally understanding and said he wasn't mad that I'd missed the match." His eyes were averted from hers throughout the entire duration of his sentence and going off of motherly instinct, Sepay decided to pry a bit more.

"Is that it?" She said skeptically with an eyebrow raised, "Are you sure that there's nothing else bothering you?" He turned his head further away and stared out the small window.

"Nope. That's it."

Sepay was just about to say something when the small timer she'd set on the stew buzzed compelling her to run and move the sizzling pot off of the flame. After carefully placing the pot in a basin on the counter, she darted out of the kitchen to her son's bed. "Hasook, look at me." He turned his head slowly to meet her gaze, but he barely moved a muscle otherwise. "Hasook, I'm your mother, I know very well when something's bugging you. You seem out of sorts."

"It's nothing mom, I already told you." She scooted a bit closer to him on the small bed and touched his cheek.

"Hasook, I'm not leaving until you tell me what is bothering you." She touched his shoulder gently. "Hasoo-"

"Bolin found out that I kind of have a crush on him and told me he's not into guys, but he still considers me a close friend. There. Are you happy now?" He pushed her arm off of his shoulder and stormed out of the room and through the front door. He needed to just get out of there and there was only one place he wanted to be.

At a running pace, he was able to reach the city limits by foot in only ten minutes. He saw the swamplands across the brook. In one fluid movement of his arms and a pivoting of his feet, the surface of the brook froze into a glassy bridge. He walked across undeterred and sublimated the ice in a flash of vapor. His frustration made his bending powerful, but difficult to control. He needed to burn off some steam.

Standing knee-deep in the murky waters of the swamp, he swiftly undulated his arms creating long fibrous tendrils of water. Using these, he quickly assembled his targets from the driftwood floating by and froze them in place with a blast of ice. The tendrils vaporized instantly and faded away into the wind. Adopting his flat-footed, straight-backed stance, Hasook quickly drew up a large volume of water and with the pivot of his front foot shaped the amorphous blob into a long tube which was then accelerated through his hands blasting the closest target to splinters. Without a moment's pause, he resumed his posture and began cycling his arms in long broad strokes, drawing the water below him up into sharp rings of ice. The second target was cut again and again by the disks until it finally collapsed.

Seeing the sticks falling rapidly into the stagnant water, Hasook's mind calmed somewhat. His movements became progressively less erratic and sharp and resumed the shapes he'd used when learning the techniques. He drew up a column of water before him and divided it in two portions, coating each hand with a sphere of water. With the clenching of his fists, the spheres solidified and shaped into the gauntlets once again. Propelled by two blasts of water under his feet, Hasook launched himself at the third target, landing heavy blows with the solid gloves, finishing with a calculated slash to the chest. He liquefied the water in an instant and blasted the target back a good 3 meters.

Having vented most of his pent up frustration utterly destroying the wooden targets he'd made. Hasook transitioned back to more calming motions to help regain his composure and focus. He picked a point in his line of sight and without moving his eyes or head, he slowly drew a thin ring of water around himself passing through the point. He willed the water to revolve and slowly drew a second and third ring with each hand, each ring passing through this point, each ring having the opposite flow of the last. Six rings demanded his entire resolve, but he was able to control each independently. When he tried to add a seventh however, the rings collapsed into a downpour of water, drenching him to the core. With a swift downward thrust of his arms the water shot off of him in an instant. He turned back around and looked at the skyline of the Central Peninsula's highrise buildings in the distance. Glancing momentarily at the wooden shards floating aimlessly in the swamp's murky waters, he began dredging himself to the edge of the marshlands and eventually back into the city.

A few hours had passed and it was beginning get dark. The sun was approaching the horizon and the sky behind him was littered with stars. He wasn't exactly ready to go home just yet and decided to take a walk around the city to ease his nerves. In no time, he reached Shu Dai's pier and quickly glanced around to make sure there were no cops in the area. Making a running leap he jumped down into Yue Bay's waters, freezing a small slab of ice below his feet on impact. His arms began moving like giant propellers at his sides and a large wave front carried him across the bay. As he approached the coastline, he dropped below the surface and swam the rest of the way to avoid being seen. Whirling a column of water around his torso, Hasook was launched onto the empty pier. In order to not be noticed, he quickly dried himself and merged in with a crowd of passerbys before peeling off down a side street towards the park.

Within the span of half an hour, he was walking through the tall stone archways into the expansive park. Night had fallen and the street lights illuminated the paths in an amber light, but perhaps most notable was the reflection of the waxing moon on the surface of the small creek. A few couples walked arm in arm along the cobblestone paths, but other than them, the park was empty. Figuring that the patrol would likely notice him if he simply propped himself up against one of the tall sturdy trees, Hasook stole away into the small growth of Liechi trees north of the creek. He climbed up onto the sturdiest branch he could find and leaned back as he dozed off.

Just as the sky began to lighten with the approach of the sun, a veil of mist settled over the park. Hasook was awoken from his slumber by what sounded like the footsteps of a platypus bear. He cautiously looked down, half expecting to see an escaped zoo animal. Out of the mist a giant polar bear dog with two people on its back came walking through the park, stopping at the large fountain to get a drink of water. Rubbing his eyes, Hasook was shocked to see that the riders of the beast were none other than Mako and the Avatar.

"What are those two doing here?" he whispered to himself. From a distance he watched them dismount and strained his neck to try and eavesdrop on the conversation.

"...Bolin...kidnapped...Equalist guys..." was all he could make out from that distance. He sat on the branch for a moment processing what he'd heard. It seemed that Bolin had been kidnapped by a group of Equalists, that nutty anti-bender political faction with the creepy posters? All he could think about was how that was even possible. Those guys are just non-benders who hate on benders, it's not like they were any real threat. Then it hit him. "The chi-blockers" he whispered, "The chi-blockers must have gotten him, I don't see any other way that a bender could be taken so easily." His heart sank. Even though he knew Bolin didn't like him the way Hasook felt in return, that didn't stop his emotions from getting a little heated at the knews. He could barely sleep from the anxiety. The Avatar and Mako coincidentally made camp under the same tree and dozed off. Trapping him until morning at least.

The obnoxious noise of the Equalist protesters in the park woke all three of them. Careful not to make a sound he watched the Avatar storm over like force of nature to the stand. Within seconds the podium was earthbent into the air and the speaker was hoisted by his collar in the air. He couldn't tell what was being said, but he definitely heard the word "Revelation." The park patrol soon noticed the disturbance and Korra and Mako disappeared on the Polar bear dog.

Hasook waited until the commotion had died down before climbing out of the tree. Tearing a piece of cloth from his arm coverings he pulled his long, bushy hair into a wolftail, adjusted his clothes and walked over to the Equalist's table.

"Down with bending oppressors! Come join the Equalists and bring Equality to this forsaken city!" Hasook looked up at the loud little man standing before him. His appearance was almost comical. His beard and sideburns were merged and when combined with his so-called "scholar's robes", he looked like something out of a history museum. "You!" The walking anachronism pointed right at Hasook. "Are you tired of living under the tyranny of the bending elite?"

Playing along masterfully, Hasook yelled, "Yeah!"

"Then come join us tonight to see the Revelation! Our savior Amon has promised to reveal a new way to ensure equality!" He handed Hasook four fliers and smiled cockily. "Another brother has joined our cause!" Confused, Hasook tugged on his robe, prompting the speaker to pull his replacement megaphone away from his mouth.  
"What is it?" he asked angrily.

"Why did you give me four brother?"

The speaker knelt down and whispered in Hasook's ear. "The map to the location is on the back. You have to put all four together. Now get outta here man, you're cramping my style!" Hasook smirked and walked away.

"Idiot."

That night Hasook borrowed some clothes from his neighbor Mr. Yao so that he could blend in more easily with the crowd. He brushed his hair into a neat wolftail and silently boarded the ferry to the Central Peninsula. The building itself was inconspicuous. It looked more like an abandoned warehouse from Future Industries than some sort of grand meeting hall. A single light glowed weakly above the guarded entrance and small gnats buzzed back and forth around the bulb. He saw couples walking up to the bouncer and showing their poster as a proof of membership. Mimicking the gesture, he flashed his poster and walked quietly into the backed stadium. With some carefully placed pushing and shoving, he was able to get reasonably close to the stage. A giant banner with the face of Amon, the Equalist faction's commander in chief, hung ominously behind the stage. Before long the show began and Amon rose from below the stage with his officers in a cloud of white billowing smoke.

He walked up to the microphone, welcomed the crowd and shared what Hasook judged to be a phony sob story about losing his parents to benders. Then the guy began to ramble on about how he was the 'Chosen One', given some sort of mystical gift by the spirits to bring equality to all. Quietly, Hasook whispered, "Pshh yeah right. And I'm the chief of the Northern Water Tri-." Before he could finish, Amon shifted the spotlight a group of captives bound and gagged on stage. Bolin was among them. Panicked, he began to move closer to the stage, but was interrupted when Amon began to speak again. He brought out a middle-aged man in an ornate red and gold suit. Hasook instantly recognized him as Lightning Bolt Zolt, the crime boss who led the Triple Threat Triad. Amon boasted that he was given the power to take someone's bending away permanently. Although Hasook didn't exactly believe him, he still felt an icy chill crawl up his spine.

Zolt was cut free and instantly began attacking Amon with a barrage of fire and lightning but to no avail. Amon dodged every single one of his attacks and moved in quickly, grabbing Zolt's arm and spinning him around so that the bolt of lightning cracked and flailed wildly in the air. With one swift movement, Amon placed his thumb on Zolt's forehead and his other hand on the back of the neck. The bolt of lightning cracked and flailed defiantly in the air, but began shrinking, eventually the bolt decomposed into a burst of flames. The column of fire thinned and shortened until it was nothing but a wisp of smoke coming out of Zolt's fist. Zolt felt to the ground and immediately tried to right himself and strike Amon down, but nothing happened. No fire, no lightning. His bending was gone.

Hasook felt like throwing up. Even though he despised the Triads and all the evil they spread, watching the events before him transpire was like watching someone get their hands sawn off while their eyes were held wide open. Bending was an extension of one's body and Amon was maiming them inhumanely. Although he desperately to move, his feet were frozen in place with fear. All he could do was watch as Shady Shin, the Triple Threat's top waterbender, was forced out onto the stage without any water. He was a sitting duck and had no chance. Amon moved in swiftly, striking the pressure points in his knees, forcing Shin to kneel. Amon positioned himself behind Shin the same way he had done with Zolt. Shin frantically grabbed Amon's hands and tried to force them away but before he could act, it was over. He was lying in a heap on the stage. Amon was handed a canteen of water by his underling and cruelly poured it over the fallen bender. The people around Hasook were screaming and chanting, "C'mon Shin, what's the matter? You've got your water now!" Shin defiantly moved his arm in way that would normally solidfy the water into icicles and fire them, but nothing happened, eliciting a cruel laugh from the crowd and Amon.

"Who are these people?" was all Hasook could think "How can they be so unmoved by seeing human beings having a part of their souls, their existences ripped out of them by force?" He looked around at the jeering masses. Some were screaming obscenities, some were smiling like personifications of death itself. Unable to stand the sight anymore, Hasook began to move toward the stage. The Triad's earthbender fell motionless onto the wood panelling, twitching slightly as if struck by lightning. Hasook didn't have a waterskin on him because he'd thought it would look to conspicuous. He had no water to use, but the sight of people being cruelly tortured was eroding his fear. Just as he was about to reach the front row, Bolin was shoved out onto the stage. Amon looked hungrily at the boy and turned to face him. Bolin began to beg and scheme his way out with his charm, but Amon only moved closer. Just as he was about to make a move, a torrent of steam burst through the wall engulfing the stage taking Amon with it. He lost sight of Bolin, but heard his voice and another, Mako!. When the steam had cleared, both were gone. Knowing he'd only be able to safely take one of the prisoners, he grabbed Shin's jacket and tried to help him up. A chi blocker burst out of the mist to strike, but Hasook focused his anger and drew the water from the canteen onto his dominant hand, formed a gauntlet and railed the Equalist in the chest, leaving a bloody icicle in the wound as the masked assailant went flying backwards. He quickly healed the blocked points on Shin's knees. "Get up. We have to go, NOW!" Shin nodded sheepishly and they forced their way through a rear exit. Bolin was safe with Mako, but Hasook needed to make sure he got out safely now.

As he burst through the sheet metal wall, he saw out of the corner of his eye that the Chi-blockers had stopped pursuit and the brothers and Korra had escaped. He quickly guided Shin through the dark side streets and grabbed a small dinghy from the dock. With the swift circular motion of each of his arms, he speedily propelled the small boat across the bay, making landfall on the south end of Shu Dai district. As he fastened the boat to the dock, he felt a hand on his shoulder. It was Shin.

He was breathing heavily, but was still standing. "Kid..." he gasped "I don't know who you are...or why you saved my keister...but...thanks. I owe ya one." He tried to smile, but the stress of losing his bending had wracked his body with pain.

Hasook nodded at him. "Just to be clear, I'm not a huge fan of what you've done with the Triad, but that's beside the point. I wasn't going to sit by and let you be maimed and killed. Justice doesn't work that way." Shin smirked weakly at him.

"Thanks anyways. Don't matta to me whether you think I'm right or wrong, ya saved my life. I owe ya one. Plain and simple." He patted Hasook on the shoulder. "And the way you took care of that chi-blocker mook was some of the best waterbending I ever seen." As he said the word "waterbending" his voice faded and he just looked down.

"Let's go" 


	10. An Unlikely Friendship

The moon was a lot brighter than Hasook had remembered it being when he'd left earlier that evening, but he certainly wasn't complaining. The muted light illuminated the alleys more than usual making it easier for Shin not to trip on every little crack in the road. Moving as quickly and quietly as he could, Hasook weaved through the winding alleys with the injured Shin leaning on his shoulder, eventually coming to the small home wedged between tenements. A few lizardcrows perched on the ledge above cast long imposing shadows over the alley.

Hasook quickly opened and held the door so that Shin could follow him inside. As the door shut behind him Shin looked around the meager abode. There were a few Southern Water Tribe vases perched on the rickety tables in the kitchen, so Shin assumed his saviour was from the Southern tribe like his own ancestors had been, but then he noticed a few tribal looking necklaces with jewlery fashioned out of what appeared to be bone hanging on the wall. He pulled out a chair and weakly plopped himself down looking directly at Hasook while doing so. "Hey, kid-"

"Hasook."

"Gotcha. Hey Hasook, so where exactly is your family from? The decoration in here is a little schizo." Shin brushed some loose hairs out of his eyes. "So what gives?"

"Mom's from the Southern Water Tribe, she came over when she was 18 or so. Dad was from the Foggy Swamp Tribe, but he was second generation. His parents immigrated during the first wave of resettlements into the city." Hasook didn't look up at all while speaking and bent down without the slightest pause in speech to take off his muddied shoes.

Shin looked at him curiously and raised an eyebrow. "Your Pops WAS from the Foggy Swamp Tribe? What is that supposed to mean?"

Hasook furrowed his brow and said curtly, "He got killed in an accident when I was a kid. My mom and I have been on our own since."

"Sorry for your loss." Shin hesitated slightly and continued in a somewhat saddened tone, "My folks didn't have the cash to take care o' me, so they plopped me in The Sheng Gao Orphanage. I was 5. Never saw 'em again."

Just as he finished his sentence, Shin heard some movement behind him. He turned around cautiously to find a groggy woman rubbing her eyes. She seemed vaguely familiar, but he couldn't place her face.

"Mom.." Hasook said almost apologetically.

"Not right now Hasook. Details. Who is this stranger sitting at our table?" She slammed her hand down on the counter causing both Hasook and Shin to cringe slightly. "Now."

Hasook shifted back and forth in place before finally mustering up the courage to talk. "After I left last night," he hesitated and bit his lip slightly, "I decided I needed some fresh air, so I went over to the park in midtown. I camped out in a tree when all of a sudden Mako and the Avatar show up and spend the night. I overheard that Bolin got kidnapped by some Equalists."

Sepay gasped slightly, moving her hand in front of her mouth.

"Anyways, the next morning they interrogated some propaganda guy about an Equalist rally and I tailed them. I got inside and the masked guy Amon came out on stage. He did his whole spiel about how bending is evil, but then..."

Shin and Hasook both looked away.

"Hasook, what...what happened?"

"Amon started taking people's bending away. Permanently. This guy, Shin, got his bending robbed and was humiliated in front of the crowd. Bolin was up next when the Avatar and Mako burst out of the shadows and rescued him. I was about to turn tail and run, but I didn't just want to leave Shin to die."

His mother dropped the small teacup she had in hand and it fell to the ground in a jarring shatter. Her mouth hung open without a word and tears started welling up in her eyes. She ran over to Hasook and hugged him as tightly as she could. "I'm..I'm just so glad that you are okay honey. When you didn't come back after leaving so suddenly yesterday, I was really worried. I'd already lost your father and I knew I couldn't bear to lose you too."

"I'm okay, mom. Just shaken. The whole thing was really disturbing, I-I don't even know how to describe it.-" Shin interrupted him mid-sentence. Staring out the small window into the dark alley.

"It was like having your arm cut off with a blunt sword and then having the swordsman parade your severed arm around out in the ultimate humiliation. In that moment, I felt like I had lost a part of my soul, like someone reached into my body and ripped part of it away. It was like dying without dying." His face stayed relatively motionless, trying its hardest to conceal everything he was feeling. The one characteristic that made him feel special after his parents abandoned him was the ability to waterbend. Even if he could never fully trust people, he took solace in the knowledge that he could trust his bending, but now that was gone and he was alone.

Sepay felt her spine tingle at Shin's description of the night's events. Her glance shifted to the lanky Watertribesman sitting silently before them. She traced his dark features with her eye along the contours of his body. When she got to his face though, she focused immediately on his eyes. She knew those icy gray eyes, but the memory seemed so long ago. She walked towards him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Shinook?"

Shin flinched at the sound of his full name.

"Shinook?" She repeated. "Is your full name Shinook?"

He was dumbfounded. How did this random woman know his full name? He hadn't told anyone since joining the Triads.

Sepay smiled warmly at him. "When I first came to this city, I needed work badly so I shifted from job to job pretty often. A year before I met Hasook's father and had Hasook, I volunteered over at Sheng Gao orphanage. There was a little boy there named Shinook there who looked a lot like you. He was a handful, but I always thought he was a good kid."

Shin's eyes were wide with shock. She had basically just described his childhood to him. Was that why she looked so familiar?

"Wait," he said, "What's your name?

"Sepay."

"No way." His mouth stood agape. "I remember a Sister Sepay who was there for a bit when I was a tyke. That's you?" He smiled slightly as the news eased the monstrous depression he was feeling at the moment.

"It certainly seems that way!" She laughed and patted him on the shoulder.

Throughout this whole conversation, Hasook was thoroughly congused. The idea that Shady Shin, a member of the notorious Triple Threats, knew his mother was unbelievable. Even more so, the fact that his mother knew Shin as a "good kid" was even more baffling.

Her laugh was cut short when Hasook jumped into the conversation, "Shin, why did you join the Triads?"

Shin looked down at his feet and twiddled his fingers, "Honestly, because I needed the money. After I hit 18, I couldn't stay at the orphanage and I didn't have any training to do work at the mills or anything. Zolt bumped into me on the street one day and offered me a future in return for my service. I wasn't about to turn down a chance to survive."

Hasook's frown eased slightly as Shin continued.

"I personally opted out of doing any hits on people. That wasn't my thing. I ran business and personel stuff for Zolt and his boys which eventually earned me a pretty high position in the heirarchy ironically enough." He laughed sarcastically. "I'm done with them. With the Triads in general. Especially now that I'm just a non-bender." He sighed and looked out the window as he'd done earlier.

Sepay gripped his shoulder tightly and said, "Being a non-bender does not make you useless or anything less than a bender. Bending is a gift that some are given by the spirits, but it is not meant to be envied or missed. Benders and non-benders are still both human, but the gifts we are given lead us in mysterious ways. You may have lost your bending, but you're a still a Water tribesman." She walked over to Hasook's bed and pulled a small lever under the bedding, causing a bamboo extension to fold out. She quickly grabbed extra blankets from her bed and made a small space for Shin to sleep.

"Shin-"

"Call me Shinook from now on, I think it suits me better."

"Shinook, there are extra blankets on Hasook's bed if you need them. I hope you two don't mind sharing a bed."

Shinook glanced at Hasook who nodded compliantly. "Shouldn't be a problem."


	11. Shade in the Sunlight

When Hasook woke up the next morning there was a giant brown foot belonging to the guy sprawled across the entirety of his matress. Pushing Shin's foot aside and trying his best not to inhale, he climbed out of bed and walked over to the kitchen nook. It wasn't that he necessarily minded sharing his bed with the guy he'd saved, but it was frustrating to only be able to sleep on a tenth of matress at any one time. Realizing he hadn't turned the water on for the day, he walked out into the blinding sunlight and quickly turned the small gauge before dashing back into the shadows. Hands guided a steady flow of water from the faucet to a kettle hanging over the fire, then diced up a few dried tea leaves for each glass.

The pleasant aroma of the freshly brewed tea wafted around the small home eventually stirring Shin from his sleep. Rubbing his eyes the gangster sprung out of bed and shuffled to the small table, trying hard to exert himself as little as possible. Hasook had to stop himself from cracking up when he first saw Shin stand up. The only spare night clothes that they had had in the house were Hasook's from 2 years ago, so naturally they were a smidgen small on Shin. The bottoms had been made before Hasook had his major growth spurt so they only came about half-way down shin's calves. The top was also to short and exposed his midriff, while the arms looked as if they'd been spraypainted over his biceps. Appreciated in its entirety the outfit made Shin appear more like a belly dancer from the Fire Nation, rather than the street-hardened reputation he'd worked so hard to earn. Shin was wholly aware of how completely ridiculous the outfit made him look and since nightmares had kept him from getting any appreciable amount of sleep, his temper was short to begin with. He groggily looked at Hasook bending some tea into each cup. Scratching himself unabashedly he asked, "What kind?"

Hasook scoffed and smirked while turning away, "Chamoumille."

Shin rested his chin on his hand and raised an eyebrow, "Is...something...FUNNY?" He motioned to draw up some water from his glassm but nothing happened. He closed his eyes and shook his head. "Right." He turned to look around the room, noticing the decorations he'd seen the night before in full light. He followed Hasook with his icy blue eyes as he sat down to join him for tea. They sat in silence for a minute or two, before Shinook finally broke it. "So..., who's the guy that you were originally at that Equalist rally to save, Bofun or something like that, right?"

"Bolin."

"Ah, you'll have to forgive me, name's aren't exactly my strong suit. Anyway who is this schmuck? It takes gusto to go into a room full of folks who hate your guts."

"He's..." Hasook hesitated momentarily and looked away before continuing, "a friend. We did probending together." He tried to avoid making full eye contact.

"Probending?" Shinook's eyebrow raised slightly with curiousity, "What team?"

"Fire Ferrets. I don't play for them anymore though."

"Ah yeah, 'The Fabulous Bending brothers', right?"

"Yeah. That's them."

Shinook leaned back in the wooden chair, "Bit much for a teammate though, don't ya think? I mean most of them guys don't even like each other, they just play to gether to get the money."

"Well, I was pretty close friends with Bolin. I missed a match because I got ambushed by some Equalists and the Avatar hopped right in and took my spot." Hasook laughed. "It's painfully ironic, when I first saw her, I thought she was just another useless fangirl, yet in reality she's like the strongest bender in the world. Figures."

Shinook leaned over to him and patted him on the shoulder, "Lady troubles?" He smirked, "What happened big boy, get turned down by the Avatar? Don't take it too personally, I'm lucky if a chick doesn't pepper spray me when I talk to 'em. Downside of bein' a Triad I guess." He chuckled, but stopped when he noticed Hasook wasn't laughing. "C'mon, I didn't mean to make fun of ya, okay maybe partially, but you live and you learn, there's plenty of chicks out there who want a nice Water tribe guy. Especially firebenders, they love how 'exotic' we are." When he said the word 'exotic' he made claws with his hands and moved his fingers. "C'mon even the Avatar can't be that good. She's pretty hot from what I've seen in the papers, but there are tons of girls who are just as hot."

"He." whispered Hasook.

"Eh? Whaddya say kid?"

"I said he." He had both hands on the table and looked straight down.

"Erm, but isn't the Avatar ... a girl?" Shinook crossed his arms in confusion. "I'm lost."

Hasook sighed. "That's because I had a crush on Bolin, not that Avatar. Doesn't matter now anyway."

Shinook coughed and blushed slightly, "Oh! I...er...I wasn't expecting that!"

Hasook looked at him suspiciously and raised an eyebrow, "That's it? No snarky comment?"

"What kind of guest disrespects his host?" Shinook laughed. "Like who you like, this is Republic City. By definition it's a melting pot of the other four nations. Nothing really surprises me anymore. Look at all the crazies that roam the streets! You got bums pretendin' to be the Avatar, or some spiritual guru who can bring you good luck, heck you even got the real crazies who think they were abducted by some spirit thing and then returned. In comparison to that, the two of us couldn't get more normal."

"Two of us?"

"Oh, no I didn't mean...No, I don't feel the same way, at least about men anyway." He chuckled awkwardly. "Now ladies on the other hand...Sign me up! Nah, I was talking about having history with the Triads. Even that looks pretty standard."

Hasook smirked, "I didn't think you meant it that way, I was just messing with you."

"Jerk." Shinook punched him lightly on the shoulder. "If that masked psycho didn't take my bending, I'd smash you in the face with some water." He'd intended it to be a joke, but the reality hurt. "So would you mind if I stayed here for a bit while I get my shit together?"

"Sure. You're welcome to stay. We'll have to do something about the beard and hair though." He laughed and made a small scissors with his fingers. "Otherwise people will recognize you for sure."

"My Hair? Are you insane? This is the best I've ever looked!" He looked down at the two sizes too small pajamas and sighed, "I mean hair-wise! And who even is gonna cut it?"

"Me."

"YOU AREN'T EVEN A BARBER! You're not touching my hair, kid!"

"We can do this the easy way, or we can do it by force." Shinook thought for a second.

A few minutes later, Hasook was finished with the haircut. Shinook sat in the chair looking miserable in the ice restraints Hasook had frozen him in. When the evil barber returned with a small mirror, Shinook was terrified to see the havoc wrought on his beautiful beard. His sideburns and beard were gone. His hair was cut and styled into neatly, almost reminiscent of a shorter version of Mako's.

He grunted and nodded, "Great, now the only chicks hitting on me will be pre-teens."

They both laughed.


	12. Assault in the Dark

With each passing day, Hasook and his mother were getting progressively more used to having Shinook around the house. He got bored just sitting around the house, so after getting a quick shave from Hasook, he went out to find work. Through some haggling with Chen, Hasook was able to score Shinook a position on the same pier. They worked together and bonded pretty quickly as close friends. Even with three mouths to feed, Having Hasook, Shinook and his mother all working allowed the trio to save a rather nice sum of money for emergencies, alleviating the stress Sepay had endured since her husband's passing. After work every day, they'd reunite around the dinner table and share stories and jokes. It was all a little surreal having another person living with them. Hasook had been used to the solitude, but he was in no way complaining about the predicament. The only thing that was excruciatingly difficult for Hasook to watch was seeing Shinook wake up every morning before everyone else, walk into the kitchen with Hasook's small water basin, and try in vain to move the water, hoping his powers would somehow return to him, but they didn't.

After the original incident, Hasook healed Shinook every day in the spots that Amon had touched when taking his bending away. He refused to believe that Amon had been given the same gift Avatar Aang had used to permanently depower Fire Lord Ozai. Bending one's energy away was an ability granted only to the Avatar and it was impossible that Amon could use it as well. Pouring over the countless scrolls in his collection, he kept trying to formulate a way in which the standard chiblocking techniques could completely stop bending, but to no avail. Every possible combination that he could think oftrying to unblock with healing had no effect whatsoever on Shinook's lost bending.

Not one to be easily discouraged by disadvantage however, Shinook sparred with Hasook in the small clearing down the alley from his home. Hasook stuck primarily to smaller scale bending techniques due to the limited area, but that did not stop Shinook from finding something to critique every time. Although he had taught himself a large number of techniques from the bending scrolls, his skills were still unrefined and thus limited in power. Even as a non-bender, Shinook proved to be the best waterbending teacher Hasook had ever had. A few weeks passed and the blobs of undulating water became flawless streams of current guided through the air like a heavenly river. His forms transitioned from the rigid styles he'd used from instinct to the fluid, reactionary styles typical of traditional bending.

The light door swung open on squeaky hinges, allowing Hasook and Shinook to waltz inside. His mother was sitting intently at the table listening to a radio broadcast.

"...and that's that. For those of you just joining us, Councilman Tarlokk of the Northern Water Tribe has assembled an anti-Equalist taskforce. This very evening, the task force, accompanied by Avatar Korra herself, raided what official reports are saying was an Equalist training camp where individuals are taught chi blocking. Vocal non-bender activist, Xin Huitan, professor at RCU joins us to comment on the situation..."

Hasook and Shinook sat down quiety next to Sepay and focused in on the shaky transmission.

"As I have stated before in my numerous critiques of this nation's government, benders abuse their powers to oppress the non-bending population and prevent them from gaining power. I believe that the Councilman has overstepped his bounds as a protector of this city and is acting not in the interest of the entire population, but merely of the bending elite. These people were learning self-defense techniques which are warranted as useful in the least in a city ruled by the Triad thugs. With this strike, Tarlokk hoped to quell this unrest, but he has merely given Amon more fuel to feed the fire."

"Thank you, Professor Huitan. Now before we return to our earlier program, let's hear something from our sponsors..." *click* Sepay turned the radio off.

She looked intensely at her son and laid her hand on his. "Hasook..."

He squeezed her hand tightly and interrupted, "I know, mom. I'll be safe. I got caught off guard before, I'm ready this time."

She looked down and bit her lower lip. Shinook tapped her on the shoulder and looked her in the eyes, "Sepay, you should trust him. In all honesty, he's one of the best waterbenders I've seen. If anyone's safe, he is."

The next night while eating dinner, Hasook clicked the radio on to listen to some music. After sitting down as smooth jazz played in the background, he looked at both his mother and Shinook and began to eat. Before he could even begin chewing his first bite, he heard a chilling voice drown out the music. A pair of chopsticks fell to the floor and when he turned around to look, Shinook's mouth was hanging open in what seemed like utter terror. "I-It's him."

"Who?"

"Amon." They fell silent and listened to the voice projecting from the small box.

"It is time for benders to experience true fear."

Hasook and Shinook both got up at the same time and walked over to the radio, clicking it off and eating in silence.

After both his mother and Shinook were sound asleep, Hasook put on his tunic as quietly as possible and walked out the door into the darkness. The crescent moon cast a paltry amount of light into the winding alleys of Shu Dai, meaning Hasook had to rely on muscle memory and instinct to guide him. After a short walk he reached the coastline and walked into the dim yellow light emitted by the street lamps. Not a soul was around and he could hear the autumn wind howling across the bay. It still amazed him every time that he lived in such a beautiful place. The skyline of the Central Peninsula stuck out of the darkness like a cluster of stars against the inky darkness of the night.

Hasook didn't really have any destination in mind when he left, he just needed some time to clear his head and think. Eventually he reached a small dock close to the water and sat down, staring at the crescent moon's reflection on the surface and everything was so tranquil. The peaceful silence was broken by a panicked scream, a woman and a child, nearby. Springing to his feet as quickly as possible, Hasook rashly pulled his arms forward to fill the extra waterskins he'd begun wearing, in case he needed to fight. Of he ran into the darkness. With each stride he could hear the screams get louder until he spotted a small girl running towards him followed by a taller woman and a third figure behind them both...an Equalist, no two!"

"Please help us!" the woman screamed desperately, "They're after my daughter!" Hasook's eyes shifted immediately to the small girl running towards him. She had a small waterskin around her waist, big enough to hold maybe a cup or two of water at most. She was a waterbender.

"Come here!" He gestured to the pair quickly. When they reached him, he grabbed the mother by the shoulder. "Get your daughter out of here, now. Go to the Orphanage, you'll be safe there. I'll try and buy you some time."

"Thank you" she screamed through her tears.

"GO. NOW."

He pushed her off him, just in time to uncork one of the waterskins at his side. The charging Equalist lunged at him, missing his mark and landing right between Hasook and the mother. With an almost imperceptably fast movement of his feet he propelled the water out of the skin around his torso in a small ring, accelerating it into a strong blast that sent the masked man flying into the alley wall. The other assailant lunged at him from behind, trying to hit the pressure points in his arms, but with a flick of his wrists, Hasook drew the water up from the ground below him into a fast moving pillar of ice, hitting the attacker square in the torso. Before he could react, they flipped over him to regroup and coordinate another attack.

Hasook recognized pretty quickly that these chi-blockers were defintely more skilled than the last ones he'd fought. Turning his hands upward, Hasook uncorked two more of the water skins and pooled the water at his feet. While this was happening the water he'd frozen into the ice pillar melted and subsumed into the growing ring of water at his feet. The masked figures shifted their weight back and forth, looking for an opening to strike, hoping to take Hasook out in a swift flurry of blows. Hasook began to raise his hands and the smaller of the two attackers rushed at him and sprang up at the last moment with the intent of striking his shoulders. What he didn't realize however was why Hasook had raised his hands. A huge tentacle of water grabbed the masked man midair and used his momentum to toss him back, down the alley. Hasook was surrounded by eight large undulating tentacles that had risen out of the ring of water.

"Octupus form." He smirked while moving his arms quickly to control the advanced technique, "Bet you guys haven't seen this one before."

Seemingly unphazed by the taunt, the other attacker jumped quickly between the walls of the alley towards Hasook. With a strong upward thrust, Hasook shot some water off of one of the tentacles as sharp ice spears. Soaring through the air, the spears lodged in the wall just a second too late, missing the Equalist. Undeterred by his fast moving opponent, Hasook lashed two huge tentacles at the man, slamming into the walls and ground, barely missing him. The Equalist had gotten too close. Hasook wasn't in the mood for restraint. Forcing a huge volume of water forward that filled the alley, Hasook froze the attacker in place. Unable to escape, the Equalist was a sitting duck.

Gracefully Hasook coordinated his hand and foot movements, pulling the huge volume of water into orbit around him. The other attacker sprang to his feet and rushed in brandishing brass knuckles. He dodged Hasook's first few concentrated blasts, edging closer and closer. With his focus broken, Hasook lost control of the water, which fell to the ground in a torrent. Seizing the opportunity, the Equalist lunged forward, landing a hit on his leg with the brass knuckles. He had to regain the upper hand or it was curtains for him.

Thinking as quickly as he could, Hasook drew two spheres of water onto his arms, coating them completely. The Equalist moved in to strike his left arm, but right as the metal was about to connect, Hasook concentrated the water on the targeted spot and flash froze it into a solid disk of ice, repelling the hit. The shock gave him enough time to force the attack back with a wave of water.

Now that he had some breathing room, Hasook took a deep breath and began to circle his arms in giant vertical arcs. The water below was drawn up with each cycle, sharpened to an edge by the other hand and launched rapidly at the masked men. The frozen man was hit by one of the discs which sliced right through the layer of ice and left a gash oozing blood on the arm. The other man weaved seemingly effortlessly through the razor sharp discs of water being launched at him, once again closing the distance between him and Hasook. Transitioning forms mid movement, Hasook used the momentum of his arms to draw up a long whip of water which was fired at lightning speeds at the attack, hitting its mark. The man landed hard on the ground and tried to spring up to avoid Hasook, but it was too late. Hasook formed tons of long thin tendrils of water that wrapped around the man's arms and legs, holding him in place. The water had become slightly pink due to the blood lost by the other attacker.

Raising his fists upward, Hasook raised the captured Equalist to a standing pose and froze the water tendrils with a snap of his fingers. He walked up to the defeated assailant and stared straight into the soulless green-tinted lenses masking his eyes.

"If you know what's good for you, you'll talk now. I'm giving you one shot." The mask stared back at him. Only the muffled sounds of his breath could be heard. No indication of fear, joy. No emotion.

"Why are you people attack children?"

No answer.

"What use are they to you? They haven't done anything. They haven't 'oppressed' you."

No answer. The masked face glanced away, seemingly uninterested.

"LISTEN TO ME." Hasook clenched his fists. The ice tightend around the catured man's body.

The man stood there silently. Mocking Hasook with his blase glare.

"LAST CHANCE." Hasook screamed at the mask, his face reddened with rage.

The green glass lens sat silent once again.

"Okay then." Hasook held his palms flat against the ice layer covering the Equalists left leg. The ice tightened around the calf until an audible crack was heard. The masked man couldn't help but grunt at the pain of having his fibula snapped. Hasook chose the fibula because the man would still be able to walk, but it would cause quite a bit of pain for a least a few minutes before fading to a constant dull ache. "Feel like talking now?"

Hasook saw his reflection in the water and stopped moving. What had he just done? He'd broken a man's bone out of malice, out of anger, out of fear. He was just as bad as Tarlokk and his goons. Luckily, he'd caught himself before going over the deep end.

Hasook moved his palms to the man's left arm, surrounding it with both hands. He pulled up a blob of water from the pool at his feet and held it hovering around the frozen arm. The water passed through the ice layer and began to glow blue, but Hasook wasn't healing him. While he was studying his chi charts, Hasook figured that if healing worked by restoring the flow of chi, then it could stop or hinder it was well. He quickly chi-blocked both of the man's arms and both of his legs, carefully avoiding any points that would cause long lasting damage. After he was thoroughly satisfied. He healed the injured leg and thawed the man out, propping him up against a wall and drying the suit with a bit of bending.

He knelt down to take off the mask of his attacker, but as he pulled the tubes back, thick black ink shot all over the mans face. Staining his skin and making him unrecognizable. Hasook tried to wash it off with water, but the ink proved insoluble. Realizing there was nothing left he could do, he walked over to the bleeding man in ice, stopped the bleeding with healing and chi-blocked him as he had done to the other. He propped them up together against the wall. They were both alive and breathing, just temporarily stunned by the contact hypothermia and blocked chi.

Undulating his arms, Hasook drew as much of the water into the waterskins as he could, hoping to remove any evidence that the Equalists could spin to justify atacking his loved ones. The two faces stared at him silently watching him walk away.

He didn't talk about what had happened with Shinook or his mother. He was still processing the detail himself. In the days following, Avatar Korra challenged Amon and was left helpless on Avatar Aang memorial island. Her defeat left many in shock and many terrified. She'd escaped with her bending intact, but the fear Amon instilled in the bending population by besting the Avatar, albeit through cheap tactics and ambush, was incredible. Each day there would be new reports of raids by Tarlokk's task force on some secret hideout and each day Amon would wiretap his way onto the broadcast and spout propaganda.

The only reprieve from the insanity came with the start of the pro-bending Finals rounds. The sport raised people's spirits and took their minds off of the looming threat the Equalists posed. Even so, all Hasook could think of was the terror he'd seen in the little girl's eyes as she ran from assailants twice her size, pursuing her with intent to harm. It had happened in Shu Dai, one of the city's poorer districts. How many cases of missing children or home invasion would pass under the radar? How many before people realized what was happening right under their noses.

Hasook made rounds in the neighborhood to put the parents of bending children on alert. Paradoxically, as soon as the raised awareness happened, no more disappearances were heard of in the area. They were safe for now, he figured, Amon had bigger fish to fry.


	13. Surviving Society

Ever since that night, memories of a small girl and her mother being chased, no, hunted, by Equalists had plagued his mind incessantly. Every dream soon became a nightmare. The stress failed to go unnoticed by those close to him. Hasook was usually rather quiet and reserved, but since he staggered through the door covered in bruises and bloodstained clothes, awaking his mother and Shinook in fits of panic, it was as if he had become mute. It was a chore to live with the realization that if Amon was hunting bending children to show his power over the city, there was nothing that he could do about it. He was just a simple waterbending reject from the pro-bending circuit, not the Avatar, a politician or even one of the Famous Bending brothers.

Shinook and his mother tried constantly to get him of his funk in every way imagineable, but regardless of how happy he would seem in those moments, the fear of helplessness regained its ground soon enough. Hasook had watch Shin and the others lose their bending before his own eyes. It was less an action of political activism as Amon treated it, but rather a slow torture of people for the enjoyment of others. The victims of the display were less than reputable, but being spritually violated as a display of power to woo crowds of onlookers was unspeakably terrible. Benders' respective elements are an extension of themselves and their senses. and having it Having them ripped away was the equivalent of blinding or deafening. Something that was intrisically part of them was now gone and the victims had to adjust to life without it.

Hasook greatly admired Shinook's stoic reaction to the ordeal. On the surface, he seemed to completely accept the loss of his bending and have begun adjusting to life without it, but Hasook knew better than to believe his eyes. Each evening after the lamps were turned off and all had gone to bed, Hasook would hear the sound of rustling sheets on the small cot next to him. He'd adjust his position slightly to be able to see what was happening without being noticed. It didn't matter how many nights had passed since the "Revelation", Shinook would get out of bed as quietly as possible, grab the small basin of water under Hasook's bed and sit on the floor beside it. His hands would move as if he was bending, but the water failed to move. Not so much as an undulation of the surface could be seen or heard. After this, shinook would usually replace the basin where it was found and simply crawl back into bed, but some nights Hasook could swear he'd seen tears or heard a snivel from the man laying at his side. Admittedly, he was shocked the first time it happened. As Shady Shin, Shinook was an intimidating man with powers to be feared and never showed the slightest hint of vulnerability, yet here he was, trying in vain to bend water and breaking down from his failure. The failure hid behind the facade of confidence he wore during the day, implying that nothing bothered him and that all was well. That couldn't have been further from the truth.

While he still had his bending in tact, Hasook was dealing with the world around him. Amon's revelation rally had really given him perspective on how many people hated him simply for being a bender, something that he couldn't help, something that always had and until recently was believed would always be a part of him. What he found more ironic than anything was that growing up, he worried so much about the fact that he wasn't drawn to girls as his childhood friends were and how people would judge him for it, yet now that point was moot. Instead, his bending, something he'd always seen as an immensely positive quality, something that people enjoyed, made him a target for hatred.

Hasook stood up from his bed. He'd been unable to pick up a shift that day from Chen at the docks, so he had nothing to do. Since the sunlight had woken him up hours before, he'd just lain there for hours staring at the cracks in the ceiling and guiding a few small orbs of water in patterns above him. When the sun had risen enough to shine directly into his eyes, Hasook decided it was time to do something with the day. He wasn't sure where he'd go, or what he'd even do, but he just needed to go somewhere and get out of the house. Grabbing a small piece of parchment from stack on the table, he scrawled out a note to Shinook and his mother.

Shinook and mom,  
I haven't been feeling like myself lately and I just needed to get some air.  
If you're looking for me, I'll be near midtown most likely, but I expect to be back by midnight at the latest. P.S. I'm grabbing 120 yuan from the jar to pick up produce and get something to eat while I'm out wandering.  
See you both soon,  
Hasook

He grabbed placed the note on the table in clear view, walked over to one of the small cabinets and pulled a few yuan bills out of the jar. With his bag waiting by the door and money in pocket, Hasook ventured outside into the mid-morning sunlight. There were people lining the slim alleys as always, but while walking through the narrowing paths he caught a few sidewise glances from people he assumed were non-benders noticing the waterbending crest on his sleeve. He was a marked man, at least to the aggressive Equalists.

Coming to the edge of Shu Dai, the strong smell of fish wafted towards him from the pier. He could see groups of people swarming the docks to help unload incoming ships. A quick survey of the crowd and he spotted Shinook's indigo overcoat.

"Shinook!" he shouted cupping his hands to project his voice further.

The figure turned at the shout of his name and spotted Hasook waving from the far side of the pier. Shinook smirked and gave him a salute before returning to work.

Hasook walked along the coastline watching the constant flow of work at each docked ship. Crews of men and women worked in teams, using complicated pulley systems to lift the large wooden cargo containers on and off of the ships. Many contained satomobiles destined for upper crust folks in other cities within the United Republic, or in the Fire and Earth Nations. Since money had been tight when he was growing up, Hasook never ventured very far outside of city limits, let alone outside of United Republic. He'd always wondered if they were anything like the stories tourist passerbys would tell or something completely exotic, but his ties to the city were more important than going on some vision quest out in the middle of nowhere.

After walking at a leisurly pace along the crowded docks, Hasook finally reached the ferry port. Unlike his last adventure on the ferry, he actually was on time and didn't have to waterbend his way into the moving ship. Within seconds his fee was paid and he forced his way through the crowd of tourists, this time all the way from Omashu, to find a small space to stand near the bow. As the ferry pulled out into Yue bay, the fishy smell that lingered before began to fade away into the background of the sea's salty aroma. Despite feeling relatively down, Hasook could appreciate just what a beautiful day it was. The sun was hanging high in the bright cerulean sky framed by large puffy clouds drifting in the gentle breeze. Even with the temperature getting progressively cooler each day as winter edged closer, the warmth of the sunlight gave the illusion of summertime. The ferry traveled swiftly through the gentle waves of Yue Bay, reaching the Central Peninsula's shore in just under 30 minutes.

He disembarked after the massive crowd of tourists and quickly climbed down from the low docks to the small beach. Opening his blue satchel he lifted out his favorite waterskin and slung it around his waste. With the cork removed, a swift fluid motion of his right hand pulled a thin steam stream of water from the crashing waves into the waterskin. Although the patterned brown and black sack would give him away as a waterbender to anyone who saw it, Hasook decided he was far better off being prepared with the chance of being noticed than getting caught off guard again. Glancing quickly along the edge of the dock for policemen, Hasook climbed quickly up onto the pier and blended in with a passing crowd of people.

Still unsure of exactly where he wanted to go, Hasook made a circuitous trek through the same sidestreets and alleys in which he'd first encountered the Equalists. It was odd seeing the plaza in the daylight. Everything had seemed so much bigger that night, but in daylight it appeared no larger than the small clearing near his home where the local kids played regularly. There was a puddle in the center of the small plaza, close to where he'd lain in the rain. As he began walking towards it, he heard a yell coming from behind.

"Excuse me!" He turned around to see a woman walking towards him. Her face seemed familiar, but he couldn't quite place it. When she got closer to Hasook, he noticed a small girl tagging closely behind her. When the girl stared intently at him, he recognized her face immediately. It was the little girl that was being chased by the Equalists.

"Yes?" he responded politely.

"I'm sorry for popping up out of the blue, but I saw your tunic and I knew it was you." She smiled widely. "I never got a chance to properly thank you for protecting me and my daughter that night."

Hasook stood in place, not uttering so much as a sound.

"If you hadn't shown up, they would have captured her, us."

Hasook shrugged, "It's no problem. I'm just glad you two are safe." He tried his best to smile, but it came out looking like a distorted grin. Just as he was about to continue speaking with the mother, he little girl had run out to the puddle Hasook was looking at moments ago. With her hands extended and her fingers in the shape of a claw, she focused as much as she could. As little blob of water hopped up from the surface of the puddle and hung in the air between her hands. Even with her inexperienced waterbending, she was able to shape the little blob into different shapes. He smiled as he watched her play with the small shapes.

"The first time I saw her bend was when she played with some raindrops that had fallen on one of our plants' leaves. That was when she was 6. I feel bad because I can't afford a waterbending teacher for her, but she's learned how do some things, like that on her own."

Hasook nodded and smiled, walking over to the small girl. He knelt down next to her at the puddle and saw the water ball between her hands. Following her example he pulled up a small amount of water and formed it into a sphere. Out of the corner of her eye, the girl noticed that Hasook had copied her and turned to show off her water. After she went through her repertoire of shapes. Hasook mimicked her perfectly. Then he moved the water gracefully in a stream around his handsm forming a long tendril. Finally, he pulled the water back into a spherical shape and froze it instantly. The ice ball floated unaided on the little puddle.

"You try" he said to her. While guiding her through the motions, she moved the water haphazardly around, but achieved the general idea of what Hasook had done. After practicing, she tried it again and with much less wobble, achieved the same movements Hasook had made. In the distance, the bell of the Central Station clock sounded loudly indicating the hour. Hasook stood up at the sound and noticed the girl had done the same. "Quick study" he thought.

Hasook walked over to the mother with the little waterbender in tow. "It was very nice seeing both of you. Sorry to run, but I have to make it over to University Plaza soon."

He smiled and turned to walk away, but the girl's mother interjected, "Do you think my daughter could practice with you sometime?"

He looked down at the hyper child who's only coherent response was "Please, please, please, please, please, please ,please, Mr. Hero?"

"Sure, if I'm light on work anytime during the week, I will leave you a notice in your community's mail."

"Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you! Mommy, I'm going to be a waterbender like that lady in the story you told me!

Hasook and the mother laughed. He handed her a small piece of parchment with his address written on it so that she could find his home. After saying his goodbyes a second time, he continued walking through the plaza.


	14. Noodles at Twilight

A/N: I'll be introducing an OC named Doka shortly. Depending on how I feel after writing this chapter, he may make further appearances in the future. I hope that this small addition does not overtly affect your enjoyment of the fic.

In the distance, Hasook could hear the small girl jumping at her mother in excitement. Her happiness at the prospect of learning some basic waterbending from Hasook was definitely a much-needed mood lifter. Ever since that night he'd been unable to feel anything, but uneasiness and fear that he'd end up just like Shinook, his waterbending cut out of his soul like a cancerous growth. Seeing someone he'd protected from a similar fate, helped to raise his spirits, but he was nowhere near normal. It felt almost impossible to just go on living life as he had before after seeing the horrors of the Revelation and experiencing attacks on the defenseless, merely because they were benders, first-hand. Yet the citizens of Republic City, the same population that shrieked in terror when the Avatar challenged Amon, seemed to go about their daily lives as if nothing had happened and nothing had changed.

After making his way out of the crowded plaza, Hasook began weaving through the crowds of people to get to Central Station. He honestly didn't have any idea where he wanted to go, just that he needed to walk and think. Lost in thought, he barely noticed the discourteous people shoving him aside as they carried heavy crates or pushed carts through the winding alleys and side streets. Everything was just a dull hum of noise. Before long he'd made it to the city's train hub. People rushed on and off of the metallic cars, changing the structure of the crowds with each passing minute. Out of the corner of his eye, Hasook spotted a familiar-looking red scarf and a muscular boy with a fire ferret on his shoulder. Craving a reprieve from the tedium he walked over to greet the Fire Ferrets.

"Bolin, Mako!" He shouted with his left hand cupped to project the sound while he waved wildly with his right. Bolin took notice immediately and pulled Mako and the Avatar over in an excited rush to meet him.

"Hey there Hasook!" His big green eyes coupled with that big doofy smile and nose made for a very friendly greeting. Bolin ran up to Hasook and hugged him tightly, picking him up a few inches off of the ground. As he was put down, Hasook brushed off his tunic. "How've you been, man?" It was somewhat torturous having his friend, the friend he'd had feelings for, be so friendly and nonchalant, but Hasook knew better than to show any emotion postive or negative on the subject. He tried to merely feign normalcy.

"I've been doing pretty well. Working on the pier to help make up the income. Ya know, usual stuff." He attempted a smirk for added effect, but Mako interupted.

"Doing pretty well other than blowing us off. Tsk." Mako crossed his arms and grunted sarcastically.

Bolin dashed over to Mako and held a hand against his brother's ear, whispering loudly, "I already told you what happened! Give it a rest already!"

Mako shrugged and put his hands in his pockets. "Yeah, yeah. I'm sorry."

Hasook raised an eyebrow skeptically at the firebender's apology. "No hard feelings." he said with a straight face. Bolin jumped between them and pushed Hasook and Mako apart.

"Alright boys, take it easy. OH!" he smacked himself jokingly on the forehead, "How could I have forgotten? Hasook this is Korra." Hasook looked at the muscular water tribe girl. She exuded power. Without even talking to her, he was slightly intimidated. Never in his life did he expect to meet an Avatar, let alone be replaced by her on his probending team.

"Hi there! I'm Korra," she said in a booming alto, "Nice to meet ya!" She grabbed his hand to shake, but it felt more akin to a platypus bear clamping down on his hand rather than another person.

"Hasook. Likewise." He shook his crunched hand out adter she released and took another hard look at her. He'd noticed from the moment they walked up that Bolin was totally enamored. His big green eyes followed her like a stray puppy looking for a home. Hasook was still somewhat upset that Bolin didn't feel the same way he had, but he figured that if Bolin HAD to date a girl, he certainly picked the most powerful chick in town, the Avatar at that. Even he had to applaud that kind of swagger.

"So you're a waterbender, right?" Korra looked at him inquistively.

"Yeah, I am." Hasook nodded and turned to show the waterskin at his side.

"Cool! Are you from the Southern Tribe?" She looked almost giddy with excitement, as if she'd never met another Watertribesman before.

"Sort of. My mom is Southern, my dad was," he hesitated momentarily, "second gen Foggy Swamp."

Mako almost burst out laughing. "Hasook, you never told me you were descended from the country bumpkins!"

Korra turned and glared at him angrily, silencing the laughter immediately. She gestured from her eyes to his with her hands.

Hasook shrugged, "And THAT's why I hesitate to tell people." He giggled slightly. "Though I CAN tell you that giant bugs are a lot tastier than you'd think." He grabbed his waterskin and made fake chewing noises.

They all laughed, garnering some stares from uninformed passerbys.

"So you guys are in the finals now, right?" Hasook managed to get out after the laughter subsided.

Korra began to answer "Well yea-", but Bolin jumped in eagerly and stole her thunder.

"YES. Well, we're in the top 16. All because of this guy!" Bolin pointed to himself, prompting Mako and Korra to clear their throats simultaneous, "with the help of Korra's crazy skills and Mako dating a super hotm super rich girl who sponsored us." Korra looked away slightly as Bolin said "super hot" and "super rich."

Hasook noticed, but was too curious about who this girl was to think long on the topic. "Who?"

Bolin jumped up and down while pretty much screaming, "Asami flippin' Sato! Daughter of THE Hiroshi Sato!" He grabbed Hasook by the shoulders and began shaking him back and forth. "How crazy is that?"

Hasook's eyes widened, but he noticed Korra seemed somewhat perturbed by Bolin's avid descriptions and tried to seem as nonchalant as possible. "Pretty crazy!" He shrugged his shoulders. Eager to get off the topic, Korra jumped in.

"So how about you Hasook? I bet you're a big hit with all the Water Tribe girls since you were a probender." She smirked and tapped him on the shoulder with her fist.

He tried to loosen his collar slightly and not to blush or look at Bolin in any way. "Uh..." He rubbed his unkempt hair and smiled awkwardly. He wasn't sure if he was all that keen on having the Avatar know his personal life. You couldn't get much more public than being the Avatar. Before he could make up an excuse, Bolin leaned over to Korra and whispered in her ear loudly.

"Hasook's kinda not into girls."

Korra, being the lovable unworldly girl that she is, took this the completely wrong way. "Oh I get it! You're too focused on pro-bending and work to have time for a girlfriend or something. Good for you!" She pumped her fist once in the air in support.

Hasook and Bolin facepalmed simultaneously.

Hasook mustered the courage to speak. "while that's partially true-" Before he could finish, the lovable oaf next to him just cut him off without hesitation.

"Hasook likes dudes!"

Something about the combination of Bolin saying this, with a big doofy smile on his face and Korra just totally not understanding the first reveal made Hasook feel like crawling into a corner and just dying. His face was as red as Pabu's fur and he could barely see straight.

It took Korra a second to respond, but she soon raised her hand to her mouth and shouted, "Nice!" before running over to highfive Hasook. All he could think was "WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS GIRL?", but seeing her with Bolin, they were like a matched set. Two hyper doofuses. Before he could object, she ran over to him and picked him up. "Yup, perfect match." he thought.

After being released from her deathgrip, Hasook brushed himself off once again.

"Well this has been sufficiently awkward, I should probably get going, I uh.. have to meet someone over in University District."

Korra patted him on the shoulder, "It was great to meet you. Hope you make it to the match!"

Bolin walked up to him and shook his hand, pulling him into a hug. "Great seeing you Hasook! I'm glad things are looking up for ya, dude! Hope to see you soon."

Mako turned to him and raised a hand, "Later, Hasook."

As they began to walk away, Hasook noticed pretty clearly that Korra was eyeing Mako, in what looked like a failed attempt at covert observation while Bolin was laughing and joking with her. He didn't really dislike Korra any longer, he was just worried that she'd end up hurting Bolin unintentially.

"Why am I worried?" he said to himself, "Bolin's a big boy, he'll realize she's not into him." He stood there and thought for a second, "Who am I kidding?"

Still shocked by the conversation he'd just had Hasook wandered up and down the "streets" of the bazaar set up in Central station trying to clear his head. He passed by the tent of the crazy old lady he'd bought the scrolls from a few times before his stomach decided it was time to eat. Quickly scanning the aisles for something appealing, Hasook noticed a small shop advertising, "The Best Sea Plum Noodles this side of Yue Bay". It'd been a while since he had Water tribe food that didn't involve the imitation noodles Shu Dai's vendors carried. There was an old couple perched at the counter eating noodles when Hasook walked up, but as he was far from eager to talk to them at this instant, he took a seat at the far side of the counter. The cook was a mountain of a man, easily towering over Hasook and probably weighed twice as much.

"Hey kid, what do you want? You gonna eat or just sit there taking up my counterspace?" He had a small slate board in his hand to take the order.

"Sea Plum Noodles please."

"That it?" The cook pretty much growled at him.

"Yeah, that's it."

"That'll be 40 yuan." Hasook took out the change in is pocket and gave the angry man a 100 yuan bill. The change was almost thrown at him in coins.

While Hasook sat patiently waiting for what he hoped would be the best Sea Plum Noodles he'd ever had, a slim muscular guy walked up beside him. His eyes were green like Bolin's, but murkier and more brown than the earthbender's emerald eyes. He was relatively light-skinned, but had a waterbending crest on his satchel. He looked at Hasook and gestured to the chair beside him.

"Mind if I sit here?" He smirked slightly.

"Go ahead. Doesn't matter to me." Hasook tried to seem as cool as possible, hoping not to provoke the stranger. He took the invitation and plopped himself down on the stool next to Hasook.

Unphazed by the cook's brash nature, he placed his order and began tapping his fingers. The cook came soon with the blue bowl of noodles and dropped it haphazardly in front of Hasook, spilling some broth on the counter. "There ya go. Enjoy." Shocked by the rudeness, Hasook shrugged and sighed, drawing the broth off the counter and back into the bowl. As soon as he took his first bite of noodles, the stranger began talking to him.

"I haven't seen you around here before." Hasook turned to him midslurp, pulling the rest of the noodles into his mouth.

"Yeah, uh I don't come here all that often." The stranger smirked.

"I can tell." He laughed.

Hasook wasn't sure how to respond.

"Why do you seem so uptight? Not like I'm a metalbender cop. I'm Water Tribe, like you." He patted Hasook on the shoulder.

Hasook's eyes immediately traced the stranger from head to toe. He looked about the same age as Hasook, had on khaki-colored pants with a forest green tunic. The blue-green bag slung over his shoulder seemed so out of place. The guy just didn't look Water Tribe at all, he must have been from the Foggy Swamp tribe.

The guy clearly noticed Hasook checking him out from head to toe and just smirked. "You're pretty cute." Hasook used all of his willpower not to show the slightest bit of embarassment or excitement, but a guy had just called him cute. A good-looking guy his own age at that! He'd visited some of the city's clubs last year after sneaking out at night, but the only people there were businessmen and guys who looked old enough to be his father.

"T-Thanks..?" was all Hasook could mutter out. He didn't know who the man was, or what his intentions were, but he was cute and had called Hasook cute in return.

The stranger put his hand to his forehead and laughed slightly. "I'm such an idiot, I didn't even introduce myself and here I am calling a stranger cute. The name's Doka, nice to meet you." He extended his hand.

"H-Hasook." He grabbed Doka's hand and shook it as least awkwardly as he could manage. "Nice to meet you too." Hasook was able to muster a smile. After he'd learned Doka's name, things just became much more relaxed. He wasn't sure what it was about him that made him so easy to talk with. Perhaps it was his friendly smile and disposition, or the knowledge that he was in pretty much the same situation as himself, but Hasook felt unusually comfortable.

After the awkward introductions, the shopkeep brought Doka his noodles. Hasook and Doka began to chat between bites. Hitting it off pretty quickly.

"So if you don't mind me asking, where is your family from?" Hasook looked at Doka apologetically, hoping he hadn't offended his new friend.

Doka laughed. "Don't worry about it! I get that a lot. My family's from the Swamp Tribe. My grandparents immigrated after the war since the Swamp is so close to the UR. Hence the light skin. I don't have that wonderful swampy twang to my voice though. I guess that got lost in my generation." Hasook grinned.

"I know exactly what you mean. My mom's Southern Water Tribe and my dad was second gen. Swamp, so I'm a bit lighter than most polar tribe guys, but my teammates never let me off about having Swamp relatives though."

They both laughed.

The conversation continued well into the twilight as the sun began to set. The cook eventually forced them to leave to accomodate the evening rush.

Doka and Hasook walked through the packed alleys of the bazaar, admiring the lights and stars while continuing their discussion. "So do you have any siblings?" Doka turned to him and smiled.

Hasook frowned slightly. "Nope. I'm an only child. My mom was going to have another kid until my dad died."

Doka gasped slightly and patted Hasook on the back, "I'm sorry man. I didn't know."

"Don't worry about it." Hasook smiled brightly at Doka and they walked quietly out of the plaza.

They kept talking like before, but when they were into the empty darkness of the alleyway, Doka grabbed Hasook's hand. Hasook reeled slightly. He had not exactly expected someone to grab his hand out of the blue. Doka immediately started to apologize, "I'm sorry, I just thought-", but Hasook grabbed his hand again.

"Don't worry about it. It's nice."

As they walked holding hands cautiously through the dark alleys, Hasook heard movement and stopped walking. "Did you hear that?" He pulled his hand away from Doka and looked around for the source of the noice.

"I think it came from behind us." Doka said calmly while scanning their surroundings. Hasook uncapped his waterskin and Doka quickly grabbed his out of satchel on his back, slinging it around his shoulder. They stood back to back in the alley, facing outwards and waiting for something, no, someone to jump out at them.

Out of the nothingness, Hasook spotted three pairs of glowing green eyes flashing in and out of vision as they crossed the narrow beams of light.

"They're Equalists!" Hasook yelled to Doka, "Get ready and don't let them hit you!"

No sooner than finishing that sentence, one of the Equalists lunged out of the shadows at him, being met with a pointed blast of water. Doka had two after him. Even in the heat of the battle, Hasook could easily tell that Doka was using Swampbender forms rather than the traditional fluid movements. His long broad strokes sent powerful blasts of water at the attackers, forcing them back.

Another jumped at Hasook, grazing his arm with a blow before being sent flying by water whip. Hasook quickly pulled a small amount of water onto the point of impact and unblocked the chi point. Rather than taking the defensive role yet again, Hasook ran at the masked assailants launching barrages of icicles and water their way. Behind him, he heard Doka grunt. One of the two Equalists had blocked his arm, leaving him fighting one-handed. Rushing to the scene, Hasook quickly pulled up a tentacle of water around the attacker responsible and exhaled deeply freezing him midair.

Behind him, his two earlier opponents rushed with breakneck agility, hoping to land hits on his back to knock out his bending. Just as one was about to make impact, Doka pivoted his feet and froze the opponent to the alley wall in a blast of ice. Hasook drew the water remaining in his waterskin over his arms and froze them into the ice gauntlets he so loved. Launching himself that the second Equalist with a blast of water, he landed a barrage of heavy hits, sending the assailant reeling with the sound of a cracked rib. In the same moment, Doka created a vortex of water around his working arm and launched it at the attacker, sending him careening into the ground. Just when it seemed to be over, four more unearthly green lenses glared out from the darkness. One threw a bolas at Doka's feet, pulling him to the ground. The other tried to reel the captured Doka quickly into the darkness. In a moment of urgency, Hasook liquified the gauntlets and began launching high speed water disks into the darkness, eventually snapping the cable and presumably injuring the thrower.

As Doka freed himself from the snare, he stood up next to Hasook and together they drew up a tall flim of water and solidified it into hailstones with a clenching of their fists. Each taking half, Hasook and Doka fired the hailstones at the attackers, driving them off into the darkness. On the retreat however, one threw a bladed knife, gashing Doka across the torso. Hasook could see the red leaking from the wound into the water on the ground. "Doka!"

"I'm fine. Are you okay?" He held his torso and flinched in pain before feigning a smile.

"Yeah, this happens to me way more often than you'd expect." Hasook laughed uncomfortably. The sight of Doka's blood snapped him back into reality. "Move your hand, I can heal."

"That's handy." Doka smirked.

Hasook drew up a large ball of water from the ground and held it over the open wound. With the rapid movement of his hands, the water began to glow light blue. It took a few minutes, but the bleeding finally stopped. As Hasook pulled his hands away, Doka looked up at him and smiled. He pulled Hasook in close and kissed him lightly on the lips. "Thanks for that. I'd probably be a goner without you."

Hasook didn't even know how to respond. He just uttered, "You're welcome." and looked away hoping he wasn't blushing too much or if he was that Doka'd think it was blood. He helped Doka to his feet and rinsed out the wound with some clean water. They walked silently back to Central Station plaza, but nothing really needed to be said and neither even knew what to say.

When they got to the ticket counter Hasook asked Doka where he needed to go and paid for it without hesitation. Together they walked over to the train station, just as the tram pulled up.

Doka grabbed Hasook's chin and looked him in they eyes, "So will I see you again?"

Hasook looked away. He certainly hoped so, but Republic City was huge. There was no guarantee he'd just run into Doka again. He nodded.

Doka hugged him and said, "Thanks for everything. Tonight was great, we should do it again sometime." He smirked and stepped onto the train. Hasook saw him wave through the window and smiled back at him. Whether or not he saw Doka again, he would never forget meeting him. Dinner together was more memorable than the fight against the Equalists, but he didn't know if it was just another destined to fail adventure, or something with potential. Before turning to head home, Hasook felt his chapped lips and remembered the soft kiss. Things clearly weren't going to get any less confusing anytime soon.


	15. Homefront

As the train pulled out of the station, all Hasook could think about while waving to the light-skinned boy through the window was how amazing the day had been. Despite starting out in an Amon-induced funk, talking with Korra, Mako and Bolin along with meeting this new guy really brightened up his disposition. Was it odd that being attacked by Equalists again didn't even faze him? Maybe he was still high on the adrenalin rush of fighting back to back with Doka or maybe now that this was the third time he'd been attacked, it wasn't anything revolutionary anymore. His repertoire of moves learned from the scrolls with some improvisations on the fly seemed to let him hold his own against the chi-blockers, but the last thing he wanted to do was become overconfident.

Before long the train's lights faded away into the sepia shadows in the twilight. People passed him by and bumped into him, shoving their way through the crowd, but he remained unperturbed. Still in the stupor of it all, Hasook reached the ferry and forked over the last few yuan from his pocket to buy a ticket back to Shu Dai across the bay. In spite of the cities bright skyline behind him, he could still make out a few constellations. The half-moon hung brightly in the sky, casting a wispy, white glow on the bay's undulating surface. Unlike his normal voyages on the ferry, this one in particular felt like it lasted a near eternity. Antsy and eager to get back home, Hasook occupied himself with a small ball of seawater he pulled up from the bay. The water moved effortless between his hands and with a simple flexing of his fingers froze into elaborate shapes. A hunchbacked old woman sitting near him on the ferry noticed his fidgiting and decided to try and make some small talk.

"That's quite a dandy little trick you can do there sonny boy!" She pointed to the spiked ball of ice between Hasook's hands and smiled warmly.

Caught off guard by the sudden conversation, Hasook held the orb in place while messing with his shaggy bangs in an attempt to look presentable. "Thanks." He smiled and turned to go back to bending the sphere when he noticed that the old woman was still staring at him. He wondered what on earth she was so happy about. It wasn't like the trick was all that complex. Any competent waterbendedr could do something similar. Just what was she so interested in?

"You got somethin' on your mind? You look a bit lost in thought." She asked the question politely and Hasook almost felt obligated to answer truthfully whether or not he wanted to. Her hand had somehow gotten on his knee without him even noticing. He blushed slightly, but in the dim moonlight it was almost impossible to see.

"No. Thanks though." He hesitated for moment and as the woman began to open her mouth to respond, he continued, "Actually, I'm not really sure what I'm feeling to be honest. Today was...confusing, but in a good way...I think." His eyes moved frantically back and forth, doing whatever possible to avoid making eye contact.

The old woman smiled, revealing a few missing teeth, and patted his knee with her hand. "Ah I believe I know what you're feelin', sonny!" She nudged him in the side with her elbow, eliciting an inaudible "Ouch" from Hasook. "So tell me about the lucky lady."

Hasook froze and coughed slightly, at which point the toothy old broad started laughing. "Ladies, then? Aren't you a catch!" His eyes darted back and forth and he was sure he could feel some sweat gathering on his brow even in the brisk autumn weather. He laughed slightly and cleared his throat.

"Well, yeah there are two. One I've known and liked for a long time, but the feeling doesn't seem to be mutual." Slouching progressively more with each word, he looked down at the deck. The woman patted him reassuringly on the back.

"Sonny, we all have that one person who we always thing what if about. Trust this old gal!" She cackled.

Sighing, Hasook continued, "And the other, I just met today, but...I can't even explain it...there was sort of an instant connection between us. I'm just so confused about what I feel. I've liked the other person for long time and I don't know if I can just do a full turnaround and have the same feelings about someone after just a day."

The woman rubbed his shoulder reassuringly and spouted what he'd expected would be some sagely advice, but instead he got this. "Well, you could always do what I did."

His interest was piqued, "What did you do?"

"Well when I met my second husband Chang Dan, I was still married to my first husband Shu Feng. I didn't know which one I loved more so I organized a public cagematch between the two for my hand in marriage." Hasook's jaw dropped open in shock/horror. "Would've worked too if they weren't both arrested the day before it was supposed to happen!"

Hasook raised his eyebrow giving off signs of his irritation. This woman was insane. Not even normal insane like Bolin, but the bad kind of insane. He wondered why her husbands had been imprisoned instead of her, but his better judgment prevented him from asking.

"What happened when they were released?"

She cackled and slapped her knobby knees. "Oh honey, they weren't released! They died in some prison riots a few months before they were scheduled to be released. Luckily, I met my third husband Han Zhou the day of the tragic events."

Yup, Hasook was right. This woman needed serious help. Not only was she completely useless in giving relationship advice (even though the idea of Bolin and Doka fighting over him did seem kind of romantic in a sadistic sort of way), she was as mad as a hatter. He figured it'd be best to just apease her until the ferry reached Shu Dai and then make a break for it.

Shaking slightly, Hasook managed to utter a "thanks" to the old lady for her "advice" and then moved slightly down the bench to resume playing with the small ice ball. As the ferry neared the pier, he sighed a deep breath of relief and noticed the woman pulling an obscenely large ear of corn from her burlap bag. At the tip of her fingers a small flame appeared and she roasted the vegetable hungrily until they made landfall. Determined to escape as quickly as possible, Hasook very nearly jumped from the edge of the boat to the pier and darted down the dark alleys towards his home and more importantly, away from this mad old woman.

Navigating the neighborhood's dark passages with muscle memory and some luck, Hasook finally reached the small clearing near his home. The was directly overhead, casting an eery blue-white glow over everything. From a distance he could see his mother and Shinook sitting at the table. They both looked somewhat distressed, but about exactly what, Hasook was unsure. As he got closer to the front door, he could hear bits and pieces of the conversation. He stood outside in the dark taking caution not be noticed while eavesdropping.

(Sepay): ...antibender propaganda going around lately, I just really worry about him. There's just so much hatred in the world right now and I don't understand it.

(Shinook): Trust me Sepay, I lost my bending already. I was the second victim. I know first-hand just how scary it is. I...I can't even describe it really. It was like he took part of me away and that now I'm not whole anymore. In that moment, the moment when it all happened my life flashed before my eyes. All I could think was what I coulda done differently, but none of it mattered.

Hasook bit his lower lip and thought back to the night where he first met Shinook, or Shady Shin as he was known. It was as clear as if it was yesterday. Hasook stood there in the crowd in that packed warehouse and watched the Triple Threats lose their bending one by one. Amon merely placed a thumb on their forhead and gripped the back of the neck and it was as if their souls were being forceably torn asunder. He'd never forget the terror on Lightning Bolt Zolt's face as his bolts of lightning devolved back into flames before fading into nothingness, or the humiliation of Shin by pouring water on him after taking his bending. Right as Bolin was about to be attacked the Avatar had popped in, just as Hasook had planned to do earlier, but couldn't reach the stage in time. Saving Shin though was the first time Hasook hadn't felt helpless. Using the techniques he'd learned from the scrolls, he severely wounded one of the Equalists and held the rest off long enough to save Shin. He knew in that moment that Shin had done some wrongs as a Triad member, but even though he deserved justice in some form, what Amon had done was in no way just.

(Sepay): I...I can't let that happen to Hasook. I may not be a bender, but that doesn't mean I can't fight for my son's right to co-existence.

She stood up from her chair while speaking. Shinook stood and placed both hands on her shoulders guiding her back to the chair.

(Shinook): Look Sepay, I love Hasook just as much as you. The kid's like the little brother I never had, but you're more important.

He looked her dead in the eyes and spoke clearly and seriously.

(Shinook): Promise me that if it comes to it, you will let me handle anyone that comes here looking for him.

Hasook froze. 'Handle anyone that comes here looking for him'? How was Shinook going to handle any of the Equalists? He couldn't bend and he probably wasn't fast enough to fend off chi-blockers.

(Sepay): Shinook. I..

(Shinook): Sepay, I need you to promise that to me. Right here and right now. Swear to it.

(Sepay): I promise. I just..I just don't want to lose him. I already lost Kahoku.

Hasook just stood silently in the darkness.

(Shinook): Alright then. You have to understand, I'm expendable. I'm just some guy, but you're his mother. Look at me, I didn't have one and look how I turned out. You're more important than you realize.

Figuring this was the least awkward time to walk in, Hasook knocked twice on the door and turned the handle. Whistling casually he tossed his bag to the side and walked over to the table to sit with them, as if he hadn't heard anything.

"Hey, ma, Shinook. How were your days?"

Shinook looked at him somewhat skeptically. He wasn't sure how to interpret Hasook's seemingly chipper mood. That morning he was down in the dumps, so either something must've happened or it was a front.

"It was okay," he responded with a nonchalant shrug, "We had a few shipments of Satomobile parts come in from the Fire Nation, so unloading those was a chore. Otherwise, pretty average." Shinook's eyebrow remained raised while Hasook's mother spoke.

"The laundromat was also rather good today. Loads were relatively light so it went by quickly." She smiled inoccuously.

Shinook went to put his feet up on the table, but a death glare from Sepay stopped him in his tracks. Leaning forward he looked at Hasook intently.

"What's got you so upbeat? You looked like a sullen sea slug this morning!" He tapped Hasook lightly on the shoulder with his fist. "What happened? You find a sack of money?" Shinook laughed heartily.

Hasook grinned slightly, but it faded. "Nah, I felt like I needed to clear my head so I decided to go for a walk over near Central. I took the ferry over."

"Okay, okay..." Shinook stroked his nonexistent beard, "Sounds pretty flippin' boring."

"Well, I ran into Mako, Korra and Bolin." His mother flinched slightly at the mention of Bolin's name, the memory of Hasook being so distraught was still relatively fresh in her mind. "We talked about them getting into the finals and stuff. I kinda think that Bolin has the hots for the Avatar."

Shinook almost burst out laughing. "Bolin? That goofball always sets the bar way too high. He's bound for disappointment. Poor kid shoots for the stars and lands in the mud."

"Hey, ease up on him. Not his fault Mako basically steals any girls he could potentially get away!" Hasook knew this wasn't completely true, but Mako and him weren't on the best terms so he felt like he'd get a little jab in.

Shinook stopped laughing and smirked slightly, "Do I detect a tinge of jealousy? Angry the Avatar is wooing your man?" Sepay smacked Shinook with a rolled up newspaper. "Youch! What was that for? It was just a joke."

Hasook looked down, but started talking again without missing a beat. "Anyways, after they left, I went to go grab some noodles up near the University District. I met a guy named Doka. He was a waterbender too, Foggy Swamp." Shinook chuckled, but stopped for fear of another admonishing smack from Sepay. "We ate together and talked and really hit it off." Hasook smiled. "But, we got ambushed by 4 or 5, I couldn't really tell, Equalists." Sepay gasped audibly.

"Again?"

"Yes, ma. Again. But, I have experience fighting them now so it went by pretty easy. Doka got cut, but I healed him and walked him home."

Shinook smirked, "You two are like a regular Oma and Shu!"

Sepay smiled and hugged him, "So when are we meeting this Doka fellow?" Hasook reeled back.

"Woah, woah, woah guys. I don't even know if I'm going to see him again, let alone if I'm going SEE him again." Hasook was as red as a fire ferret's pelt. "Can we please stop talking about my life and just eat? I'm starving!" Shinook and Sepay looked at him and laughed at the audible growl coming from Hasook's stomach.


	16. The Moon and Ocean

Hasook woke up the next morning with a smile on his face. It had been eons since the last time he could remember that happening. The smile was short-lived however, because Shinook's foot was very nearly in his mouth. The guy just couldn't stay still while sleeping. He'd always end up sprawled out all over the bed. Shinook was skinny at best, but he took up as much space as a sprawled-out eel hound. Taking care to not wake Sleeping Beauty from his slumber, Hasook gently moved the tan foot off of his shoulder and laid it down gingerly on the bed. Hasook walked over to the kitchen and boiled some water for tea when he heard his mother walking in from the other room. Looking over his shoulder, he noticed his mother walk over to his bed where Shinook was snoring loudly with his head hanging over the edge. She motioned for Hasook to bring her some water and held up the empty basin. Realizing what she was planning, Hasook grinned and sent a thin stream of water from the kitchen over to the small basin. In a few seconds it was full and Sepay was looking more mischevious than Hasook had ever remembered seeing her. Standing squarely over Shinook's snoring head, she inverted the basin and let the water fall right on him. He jumped as soon as it hit his face and sprang into an upright sitting position. His bangs were plastered to his forhead, dripping water. Unamused, his eyebrow twitched as he spat out the water that had landed in his mouth. Hasook and Sepay burst out laughing, almost falling to the floor in stitches.

"You both think you're very funny, don't ya?" Shinook grinned schemingly and stood up. "Well, come and let me give you a congratulatory hug!" He chased Sepay and picked her up from behind leaving giant watermarks on her clothes. Then he turned his attention to Hasook and darted towards the kitchen. Hasook reacted quickly and exhaled forcefully, freezing the water-soaked Shinook in place. "That's not fair." He laughed. "Now that I'm a non-bender, I feel oppressed! Better call the Equalists." They all shared a laugh before sitting down for tea.

Shinook, now happily defrosted and dry, sipped his tea and then decided to break the silence. "So what's everyone got in store for today?"

Sepay smirked and shrugged, "What ELSE? Laundromat like always, though it's almost the weekend so there's bound to be some big loads today, so I might not make it back in time to whip up something for dinner." Hasook and Shinook let out a collective sigh. "It's not like I'm the only one who knows how to cook around here! We're not in the Northern Water Tribe" She looked at Shinook, "No offense Shinook."

He smirked, "None taken. Those mooks are too high and mighty for me anyway. I'm much more of a go-with-the-flow kind o' guy."

"Are you two working down at the pier today?"

Hasook frowned slightly, "Only for a little while today. They're prepping one of the ships so they need benders to help adjust the ballast tanks. After that Chen wants me to clock out."

Shinook looked and him and patted him on the back, "The one upside of not having my bending: I get to dodge working ballast duty. On the other hand, I'm pretty sure they're expecting some raw material to come in from the south, so I'll be unloading freight all day." He shrugged. "At least it pays okay."

The cogs of the small clock on the wall clicked and the sound of a miniature drum was heard, signalling the hour. All of them turned at the sound.

Sepay turned to Hasook and Shinook and said, "It's pretty late. If we don't get motivated, we might be late. Chop, Chop. Let's go!" She had a rolled up newspaper in her hand and neither felt like getting scolded by the disprortionately intimidating woman. "Hasook, Shinook I left your bags be the entrance. Could one of you stop by the bazaar and pick up a few papayas?"

shinook raised his hand, as if they were in school, "I'll grab 'em."

All three of them walked out the door; Shinook and Hasook began the trek down to pier while Sepay walked in the opposite direction towards the trolley station. The sun was still on its ascent towards high noon, but autumn winds whirring through the alleys lowered the temperature significantly. The chill in the air made the work slightly less enjoyable, but nevertheless Hasook's shortened day went by rather quickly. The work was simple, but tedious. Filling ballast tanks and adjusting the pressure wasn't exactly the most enjoyable task in the world, but it paid relatively well compared to other jobs specialized for waterbenders. The only major downside was how seldom he was needed for that job specifically. Ships passed through Shu Dai's piers all the time, but only every 1 in 20 needed ballast adjustments of a level in which a waterbender was required. After punching his timecard with the dock overseer, Hasook grabbed his things and went to visit Shinook before leaving.

"Hey Shinook!" Hasook waved to him as he ran down the pier. The taller man stood up and wiped the sweat from his brow onto his sleeve.

"What? Are you done already? You benders have it so easy!" Shinook tapped him lightly on the shoulder and winked. "Go have some fun on the town in my honor. Get outta here!"

Hasook laughed and turned to walk away. "I should be back a little after sunset, so you can go ahead and eat without me."

Shinook waved and shouted back, "It's not like you have to tell me twice! What makes you think I was going to? Catch ya later!"

Hasook walked back to the house, contemplating what he'd do with the rest of his day. As soon as he'd sat down at the kitchen table, memories of the night before began racing through his head. Everything was great even though the day had started out pretty miserably. He'd somewhat resolved things with Bolin, Mako and Korra, but more importantly he ran into Doka. Thinking back, Hasook decided that the best part of the whole meeting was that it was totally unplanned and had happened purely by coincidence. Doka just happened to show up at the right time, in the right place to run into him and they hit it off from the get go. Hasook was naturally a bit shy in social situations, usually hesitant to show emotion with people he was unfamiliar with, but Doka had approached him with confidence and started talking with him. They had chatted for a while and went for a walk, only to be ambushed by Equalists, but after the dust had settled, they'd shared a kiss. Nothing extraordinary, just a peck, but still a kiss nonetheless. Hasook was more than eager to find Doka and ask him out on a second date, though of course he wouldn't use that exact phrasing because he wasn't even sure if what they'd had last night could even be considered a date. Any time Bolin or Mako would talk about dates in the locker room, they'd mention candlelit dinners or walks in the park, not a hot-blooded fight against some disgruntled chi-blockers, yet for some reason what he'd had didn't seem any different.

Standing up, he made the decision to walk over to the bazaar in Central to try and run into Doka again. He knew the odds were slim. Republic city had almost 2.5 million people, one of the planet's largest cities, and Hasook was looking for 1 of them. Undeterred by the likelihood of finding Doka among the droves of people passing through the area, Hasook set off for the Central peninsula. Before boarding the ferry, he cautiously checked for the insane old firebender woman who'd given him "advice" the previous night, but there was no sign of her. Breathing a sigh of relief, Hasook climbed on board. The voyage seemed much shorter this time and after a few minutes they'd reached the shores. He looked out at the ocean and took in the expansive view of the horizon, interrupted only by the magnificent Air Temple Island and disembarked. Weaving hastily through the crowds in the side streets, he reached the Central Station bazaar in no time. The plaza was inundated with natives and tourists as always, but determination guided him through the masses to the noodle shop he'd visited the day before. Knowing full-well that the grouchy shopkeep would never let him sit there for hours on end without paying for meals regularly, Hasook loitered around the area as inconspicuously as possible while keeping a close eye on the small stand.

Nearly an hour and a half had passed and he'd seen any trace of Doka anywhere. He sighed and shrugged while his face turned to a slight frown.

"Should've known this would be a bust," he said to himself.

"Shoud've known what would be a bust?" The sound of the familiar voice was startling. He turned around to see Doka standing right behind him. He was dressed slightly differently than the last time Hasook had seen him. He wore a faded green tunic over a pair of dark brown pants with green leg bindings around his ankles. From a distance, it would have probably looked like he was wearing pants made of tree bark. There were only few rouge strands of hair in his eyes this time, most of his hair was tied in a style resembling a warrior's wolftail at the back of his head.

"Uh, I was...uh...trying to find some...rare fruit for my mom! Yeah that's what I was doing."

Doka smirked, "Okay, okay! No pressure." He placed a hand on Hasook's shoulder, "I was worried that I wasn't going to be seeing you again after that Equalist nonsense last night!"

Hasook almost burst out laughing as he thought to himself, "HE was worried about seeing ME again? I thought he'd be paranoid about getting hurt again after what happened last night!" He caught himself though and responded calmly, "Yeah it was pretty crazy."

"So, what are you up to now that you failed at finding that rare fruit for your mom?"

"What rare frui-," Hasook cut himself off midsentence and tried to maintain his cool facade, "Oh, I don't know. Don't really have much to do since I'm done with work for the day." He leaned on a barrel beside him, but since it had nothing in it, it fell over relatively easily, leaving him in a heap on the ground. He apologized to the shopowner and Doka helped him to his feet.

Doka laughed and helped Hasook brush the dust off his clothes. "You know, you can drop the whole cool guy spiel. Not really my thing and even if it was, you're pretty terrible at it." Hasook turned crimson with embarrassment and covered his eyes with his hand. Doka continued, "The reason I'm not into it though is because I'm in no way a cool guy and I don't feel like I'd get on will with one."

All Hasook could think was, "Am I dead? Is this really happening right now or am I just halleucinating from some bad guava juice?"

"Um...yeah..well. Sorry."

Doka patted him on the back, "Don't worry about it! So what were you really doing here?"

Hasook shrugged and looked away embarrassed. He cleared his throat and mumbled, "I was kind of hoping I'd run into you," prompting a slight blush from Doka.

"Oh. Well I guess it's a good thing I worked up the nerve to come and look for you too then!" They both laughed. "So if you're not doing anything today, would you wanna go see the Fire Ferrets face off against the Buzzard Wasps in the semifinals?"

Hasook was somewhat shocked to hear that Mako, Korra and Bolin had made it to the semifinals. He knew that they were good and had a lot of raw bending talent on their side, but there was some pretty stiff competition from what he'd heard on the radio. For a moment he pictured what it would have been like if he'd made it to the semifinals with them instead of the Avatar. Would things be different between them? Maybe he could have... Hasook caught himself. He couldn't dwell on the past now. He'd found an amazing guy who seemed to share almost all of his interests and who might actually like him in return. Snapping himself back to reality, he responded, "Sure! That's sounds great! It's been a while since I've been to a pro-bending match."

"Alright then, I'll see you there after sunset!" Doka smiled at him and kept walking in his original direction. Hasook had a date.

After a quick trip home to leave a note for his mother and Shinook, Hasook made his back over to the long boardwalk leading to the bending arena. As the town clock rang with the hour's passing, he noticed a figure walking towards him from the mainland side of the boardwalk. Doka came up and greeted him. "Hey! How are you?"

Hasook responded quickly with the cliched "Pretty good and you?"

"I'm doing great," Doka smiled and walked closer to him, "Well? Let's get inside before we miss the beginning of the match!"

Hasook had forgotten just how massive the stadium was. There were people everywhere. Doka slipped the usher a 20 yuan note and within seconds they were in almost the front row. As close to the action one could get without being insanely rich or a competitor. Before long, the announcer's unmistakeable voice range out over the stadium.

"Ladies and gentlemen, Shiro Shinobi here. We've come here tonight to watch the creme of the crop tough it out for a place in the finals, a chance at the pot. Tension is so thick in the air you could cut it with a knife. The two painfully precocious pairings we have tonight are the Fire Ferrets against the Buzzard Wasps up first, followed by last year's champion's the White Falls Wolfbats against the Mongoose Lizards!"

*Crowd cheered loudly*

Doka turned to Hasook, practically shouting to be heard over the crowd's uproar, "So? Who are you rooting for?"

"The Fire Ferrets. I was on their team for a while, but the Avatar's in my spot. Still they're my friends."

"You were on the Fire Ferrets? That's awesome! I'm rooting for the Mongoose Lizards, but I know they're the underdogs against the Wolfbats. Oh, they're starting!"

Hasook and Doka looked down at the playing field as Shiro Shinobi continuted with his much-love commentary.

"Our first match of the night. Introducing the Future Industries Fire Ferrets!"

Hasook cheers extremely loudly.

"And their opponents: The Ba Sing Se Buzzard Wasps!"

Hasook booed loudly while Doka laughed.

"You can't find two teams more evenly matched in age, size and strength than the Fire Ferrets and the Buzzard Wasps. Believe me! I've looked! This should be a pulse pounding semifinal folks!

The bell resounded through the stadium and both teams were off. Hasook watched with a somewhat puzzled look on his face as the Buzzard Wasps landed hit after hit on Korra, Bolin and Mako. He looked at Doka somewhat puzzled. "I'm not sure what's up with them. There's something definitely off. Judging by what they did to the Rabaroos, I figured they'd smoke the Buzzard Wasps in no time."

Doka shrugged his shoulders, "Who knows? But you're right, they look distracted. I hope it doesn't cost 'em the match." Out of the corner of his eye, Hasook noticed Bolin take a heavy hit to the stomach.

"Bolin!" He looked immensely concerned, probably more than he should have let on, especially on a date with Doka. Bolin held his stomach and waddled over to the side of the arena. "What is he...?" Before Hasook could finish his question, Bolin was losing his lunch over the side of the field. He wondered why Bolin was so sick, but before the thought could be entertained. The round was called for the Buzzard Wasps.

Round two began just as terribly. After being forced back to Zone 2, Mako haphazardly launched a fireball, nailing Bolin in the back.

"COME ON!" Hasook was standing and yelling in the stands while Doka just tried to blend in and be unnoticed. The Buzzard Wasps took the chance and launched Bolin into the water. To make matters worse, Korra earned herself a yellow fan with some unnecessary roughness. All Hasook could do was watch in horror.

The Fire Ferrets' last chance rode on Round Three and they'd need a triple knockout to do it. Hasook was less than hopeful judging by the way they'd been playing. Doka tried to hold his hand and make the date at least somewhat romantic, but Hasook was far too absorbed in the match to notice. Beginning like the two before it, Round Three looked grim. One of the Buzzard Wasps scored a hard hit on Bolin, injuring his shoulder and facilitating an easy knockout on Mako.

"Come on Bolin! Hang in there!" Hasook waved his arms wildly, "Korra get your head in the game!" Somehow Korra heard him and yelled a quick, snarky "SHUT UP HASOOK!" right back at him. Within seconds Bolin had also fallen into the water.

Doka cleared his throat slightly, grabbing Hasook's attention. Hasook looked over at him and could see he was frustrated. "Doka, I'm sorry, I suck. I haven't even been paying attention to you."

Doka had his arms crossed, "Yeah, you seem pretty focused on that Bolin guy." Hasook froze, taking a moment to compose himself before responding.

"Oh him? Don't worry, I just get too absorbed into sports sometimes. I'm really glad we did this though, honestly." He reached over and grabbed Doka's chin, pecking him on the lips.

With the kiss Doka's arms relaxed back to his side and he leaned up against Hasook. "You're a handful, but you're as cute as a baby mooselion." He punched Hasook lightly on the shoulder. "Jerk."

While they were speaking Korra really opened up. water was whirring around her incredibly quickly, easily blocking the Buzzard Wasps' attacks. With 10 seconds left on the clock she drew a huge ring of water around herself much like Hasook had done in his second fight with the Equalists, and blasted all three of the Buzzard Wasps into the drink.

Hasook and Doka jumped up together in excitement. "GO KORRA! WOOOOOOOO!"

After the Fire Ferrets had retreated to their waiting area, the Wolfbats and Mongoose Lizards made their way into the ring. Hasook recognized the Wolfbats' waterbender Tahno immediately. The guy was about as friendly as a rabid platypus bear. Doka noticed that Hasook seemed to be staring at him intently.

"Hasook, do you know him from somewhere? You look like you're in a trance."

Hasook jumped in his seat,"Wha-? Oh yeah." He looked down. "One time last year I was practicing late in the gym for a match the next day. The Wolfbats came in and demanded they had the gym booked. I complied and began to pack up my things, but apparently I wasn't fast enough for their tastes. They came at me and I couldn't hold off all three at once."

(Flashback)  
Hasook is in the gym packing up his bag to leave. Behind him, Tahno and the other wolfbats grab earth disks and water and begin to approach him from behind. He heard their footsteps and turned to see all three of them standing above him. Instinctively he uncorked his waterskin and tried to fight back, but they were too much. Tahno forced him into a corner where the earthbender bent one of the disks into a pair of cuffs around his wrists and ankles.

Tahno walked up to him snidely and stroked his chin. "Well little waterbender, have we learned our lesson for the day? You should leave when adults tell you to. C'mon boys, let's take out the trash."

He waved his hand at the eartbender who picked Hasook up over his shoulder while the firebender grabbed his bag. They walked out down to the rocky shores outside the stadium and tossed Hasook onto the beach. Tahno walked up to him with his hands in his pockets, "So this is how this gonna work," he said coldly, "you tell anyone what happened, or you try some pathetic little attempt at revenge...there may be some consequences." Tahno almost hissed on the last "s" sound. "But if you decide to actually listen to the rules for once, I might be a bit more lenient." He walked up to Hasook and looked down smugly at him. "Today, I'm feeling a bit of my country blood though, you can think of me as the carnivore." He laughed sadistically and kicked Hasook in the gut before turning to walk back upstairs with the others.

(end Flashback)

Doka was shocked. "I can't believe you didn't get them kicked out!"

Hasook shrugged and avoided eye contact, "I'd just gotten into the probending game, I couldn't risk doing anything that'd get me in trouble. Tahno and his boys have the resources to make trouble pretty easily. I-"

Before Hasook could finish Shiro Shinobi jumped in with his announcement of the next match.

"Ladies and Gentlemen we've just seen a stunning victory by the Fire Ferrets over the Buzzard Wasps. Is there any way the next match could top this one in excitement? I'd certainly place my paycheck on it. We've got the four-time champion White Falls Wolfbats going up against the always lively Mo Ce Mongoose Lizards. Will the Wolfbats get the chance to defend their title or will the Mongoose Lizards finally get their shot? We'll soon find out."

Hasook and Doka watched the arena intently. The two teams lined up at the center line with the Waterbenders facing off. As soon as the bell sounded there was a huge flurry of elemental exchange. Tahno took a number of cheap shots against the opposing benders, even going as far as using some ice, but didn't receive any penalities. The Wolfbats' Earthbender picked up 4 or 5 disks and launched them forcefully at the opposing firebender's knees, injuring him severely. Again, there was no call. Tahno smirked as he drew up a large volume of water and blasted the injured firebender into the moat. Then he ran up behind the Wolfbat earthbender who had crushed one of the disks into sharp shards and encased them in water. Moving quickly, Tahno fired the deadly projectiles at the Mongoose Lizards' waterbender, nicking his armor. One piece of stone carried by the water pierced through his facemask, smashing into his face. Using the resulting injury to their advantage the Wolfbats teamed up and fired the poor guy into the water below. Only the Mongoose Lizard firebender remained. He fought valiantly, but they were too much. The Wolfbat earthbender focused on his hands and arms launching disk after disk with enough concussive force to break the opponent's bones. With his arms out of commission, the firebender fought back with advanced leg movements, but the Wolfbats knocked him off balance and sent him careening into the open air. It had been only a minute or so, but the match was called and the Wolfbats had won.

Hasook and Doka couldn't believe the travesty they'd just watched. "I can't believe the refs let them get away with that!"

Hasook looked at Doka and frowned, "Tahno's got so much moolah, I bet he just paid them off to rule in his favor. They're dirty cheats." He glanced down into the pit and noticed the Mongoose Lizards being pulled up out of the water, bleeding and beaten. "C'mon Doka, we should go help. They'll need all the healers they can get."

As Hasook stood up to begin walking, Doka grabbed his arm with a concerned and somewhat embarrassed look on his face. "Hasook, I'm not that great at healing. I can do it, but I'm not the best." Hasook grabbed his shoulder and looked Doka dead in the eyes.

"I don't think they'll be complaining about the quality of healers right now." He pulled in Doka and kissed him for a moment, pulling away with a serious look on his face. "Let's go."

They ran down to the guard railing and together bent up a long tendril of water to carry them down to the exit doors. Guards yelled after them, but stopped when they learned that Hasook and Doka were healers.

A few hours of hard work later and Hasook and Doka were outside on the long boardwalk. Almost no one else remained in the area since the match was over, leaving the pair virtually alone.

"You were fantastic back there." Doka wrapped his arm around Hasook's shoulder and patted him on the chest. "I knew you could heal, but that was amazing. Why didn't you ever get a job with the Emergency Response Team?"

"They usually only accept folks from the nicer districts, not bilgerats from Shu Dai." Hasook tossed a stone into the water, watching the ripples rush across the surface far below. "Anyways, I decided that I couldn't go around just risking my life like that, even if it was what I'm good at. My dad died in an accident when I was a kid and I couldn't bear to think of seeing my mom if I got hurt, or worse."

Doka looked down at the water. Even though it was pretty far down, growing up with Swampbenders as parents gave him a bit more natural range with his bending. With a straight back and outstreched arms, he pulled up a long column of water from the waves below and formed it into a sphere in front of Hasook. "Here, I want to show you my special talent." He smiled at Hasook. Standing up on the boardwalk, Doka shaped the large sphere of water into a tall rectangular block, similar to blocks of marble that artists would use to sculpt statues. Closing his eyes to focus, he drew off small chunk of the ice into a ring of water orbiting his hand. He shifted his feet to flatter the ring into a disk shaped blade a water. Approaching the block of ice, he passed his hands over the surface, seemingly making no visible cuts or indentations, but when he stepped back and lowered his hands, sections of the block melted instantly revealing what looked like a thick disk of ice sitting on a platform. Approaching the sculpture again, he ran his hands carefully over the surface for a few minutes before stepping back and melting the excess as he had done before. From the rough hewn block of ice emerged the effigy of the Ocean and Moon spirits, Tui and La in front of a relief image of the moon.

Hasook stood dumbfounded by what he had just seen. "H-How did you cut that ice block to look like Tui and La?"

Doka smiled and said to him, "It's not so much that I was cutting ice to make the image, but to free the image from something that obscured it. I've always had a pretty deep connection with the world around me, maybe because I'm a swampbender, but whatever the reason, when I see ice, I can see the shape it's meant to take and waterbending let's me free that shape."

How was he so non-chalant about his talent? Doka's ice sculture was made in under 30 minutes and looked like masterpieces that had taken months to carve. "You may not be a great healer, Doka, but this more than makes up for it. Jeez"

Doka walked over to him. "Tui and La were said in legend to be in love which is why they rule the water together, ever encircling one another in the Oasis."

They were both silent for a good minute. "I really like you Hasook, I hope that we can keep seeing each other."

Hasook hesitated slightly before answering. He loved Doka's company and he was amazing at waterbending, in other words, perfect, but Hasook still couldn't get Bolin out of his head. It puzzled him. Here he had perfection in a light-skinned, Foggy Swamp form, yet all that was on his mind was whether or not Bolin was okay. He felt like a terrible person for waiting so long to answer and smiled warmly while saying, "I hope so too."


	17. Therapy from a Gangster

Sitting there on the edge of the pier, with Doka's sculpture perched behind them and the light of the moon falling gently over their features, Hasook felt torn. Even though the night so far had been exciting beyond measure and made him realize his feelings towards Doka, conflict still plauged him. Just like it always had in the past, Hasook's indecisiveness and timidity left him between a rock and a hard place. He looked over at Doka and smiled, prompting the other boy to lean up against him and place a hand on his knee.

As they sat in a gentle embrace, Doka was lost in the surreal nature of the moment. Having someone care for him was a shock to the system. Born the child of immigrant Swampbenders, Doka had never necessarily fit in with the other Water Tribe kids, let alone with kids from elsewhere. There was certainly a stigma against being from the Foggy Swamp Tribe. Regardless of how much others would deny it when accused, people from the Foggy Swamp were outcasts. Doka looked pensively out at the moonlight on the horizon.

(Flashback in Sepia)

A young version of Doka stood next to another pale boy outside his home. They were passing small amounts of water back and forth until Doka dropped the water and took an offensive pose and started yelling at the other boy.

"...What do you mean you don't want to hand out anymore? Where is this even coming from?"

The other boy crossed his arms and turns away, revealing his long wavy side-bang. "If I want to get into probending, I can't have people know that I'm from the Swamp."

Doka angrily tossed a blast of water at Tahno. "So you'd give up all of us? Our whole culture, just so you don't get mocked?"

Tahno shrugged and smirked cockily, "Yeah, that's it more or less."

"How can you just be so non-chalant about this? What about your family? Have you even told your parents what you're planning?"

The smirk disappeared from Tahno's face, "Yeah, I've talked to ma and pa. Unlike you they just want what makes me happy!" His cool composure was gone and his fists were balled at his side. Doka had broken through the wall that Tahno had put up, but it was too late, his mind was made up. "IF YOU CAN'T UNDERSTAND, GET THE HELL OUT OF MY FACE." The last phrase was accompanied with spit spewed out of his mouth, hitting Doka in the face. He stormed off.

Doka hadn't seen Tahno in person again until the pro-bending finals that year. Even though he'd won, he hadn't come to visit anyone in the neighborhood, even his parents since he'd left. Tahno crafted a new elaborate backstory that erased any ties to the Swamp. Doka and everyone were nothing.

(Flashback fades out)

Hasook noticed the distant expression on Doka's face and brushed the hairs out Doka's face to catch his attention. "Are you okay, Doka? You look like you've just seen a ghost." He didn't realize just how accurate the sentiment was. It had been years since Doka had seen his childhood friend and to make it all worse, he'd become a sadistic egomaniac. Doka didn't know what to feel. More than anything he felt guilty that even though he was on his second date with Hasook, who was better than he could have ever expected, memories of his times with Tahno panged painfully in his mind. He'd liked Tahno from childhood, but Tahno didn't feel the same way at all. Doka had tried to kiss him once in a storm of pubescent emotion, but it ended with Tahno screaming at him and not speaking for a week. They'd made up, but his departure came soon after.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Hasook's bold gesture snapped Doka out of his daze. Looking up at Hasook smiling down at him, Doka hadn't felt that warmly loved by anyone other than his family in ages. Pushing himself up on his hands, Doka leaned in and kissed Hasook. A hand held his chin as Hasook leaned into the kiss. It was much longer than the peck they'd shared after fighting off the Equalists, but at the same time, it felt much more intimate. Though the kiss couldn't have lasted more than a few seconds, it felt like an eternity.

In that moment, Doka had finally come to terms with his past. Tahno had changed and would never share his feelings, but Hasook conveyed volumes of information in a passing kiss. "You're amazing. I hope you know that," was all that Doka could get out. Hasook held him against his chest. He was slightly taller than Doka, but they were still close enough in height that they had to adjust to get into a comfortable cuddling position. Hasook seemed perfect and Doka couldn't have been happier.

Hasook looked down at pale-skinned boy leaning caringly against his chest. They'd just shared a passionate kiss, but Hasook still felt somewhat detached, distracted by thoughts about Bolin. After sitting under the starlight enjoying one another's company for nearly an hour, Hasook stood up to begin walking home with Doka. The streets were silent and there were no Equalists attacking them this time, just a peaceful walk in the warm mixture of the lights of the street lamps and the moonlight. Doka had tried to join hands with Hasook when they'd started walking, but he pulled away slightly at first. Doka had figured he was somewhat reserved about people knowing THAT about him. Once they'd reached Central Station however, Hasook's confidence jumped signficantly and he grabbed Doka's hand, smiling at him, trying his darnedest not to blush. They passed a young couple with a carriage carrying a small child and were met with warm smiles instead of the disgusted glares Hasook had initially expected. After Doka made sure that they were out of earshot, he looked at Hasook and said, "They're so cute together." Hasook smirked and responded, "I think they feel the same way about us." Hasook wrapped his arm over Doka's shoulder.

Before long they were standing in a culdesac at the end of a winding alley, the Foggy Swamp neighboorhood. In an attempt to mimic the beauty of the Swamp they originated from, the residents had grown vines between the upper-floor windows of the tenements, giving the appearance of a literal urban jungle. Clothes were draped over the vines to dry and waved gently in the wind. As Hasook stepped back to take in the view of the plaza, Doka walked over to the central tenement beckoning Hasook to follow him. As they reached the door, a deep growl was heard on the other side. Hasook jumped at the sound, making Doka crack up laughing.

"No need to be scared, that's just Bufo." He patted Hasook on the back.

"Bufo?"

"My family's catgator." Hasook's jaw almost dropped. He knew Doka was from the Foggy Swamp Tribe, but he never expected something like this.

"...Your family has a catgator?", the shocked expression turned to joy, "That's AWESOME. Better than the lame pets most folks have!"

Doka smiled, "I'm glad you think so!" Doka couldn't even believe that Bufo didn't scare Hasook off. Most non-Swamp folks would scream and run in fear after hearing Bufo growl at them, even though he was completely harmless. After the growling subsided, Doka grabbed Hasook's hands and looked him in the eyes. "I'd take you inside, but my parents are probably asleep by now."

Hasook smiled, "That's okay, I'd be terrified to meet them anyway. I'm too shy for this!" They both laughed.

"Hasook, I just wanted to say that I had a really great time with you tonight," he looked away blushing slightly, "most guys beat it when they hear I'm Foggy Swamp, so anything beyond a first date is kind of a rarity."

Hasook smiled at Doka's shyness and leaned in. "I had a great time too" He kissed Doka lightly on the lips before saying his goodbyes and walking away.

A few days later.

"Hey kid, c'mon, you gotta get up Chen's expectin' us down at the docks in a few." He slapped Hasook on the cheek. Hasook rolled over groggily. His hair was a mess, lumped disproportionately on one side of his head. He eyed Shinook with an annoyed expression on his face and shifted his view to the small water-filled basin sitting beside the bed. He moved his hands trying to pull some water up to soak Shinook, but the taller man's sharp senses alerted him to Hasook's plan. "Not so fast, smart guy!" Shinook grabbed the basin and dumped it over onto Hasook. He stared at the soaked Hasook and laughed. Walking over to the kitchen, Shinook grabbed a towel and tossed it to Hasook. "What's eatin' you lately? You haven't been runnin' on all six cylinders lately."

The question wasn't exactly unexpected. Hasook had been waiting for either Shinook or his mother to say something to him, but it still caught him off-guard. As he dried his hair and face, he turned to look at Shinook. Behind his neutral appearance, Hasook was frought with emotions, he'd just become accustomed to suppressing all sorts of things about himself since the beginning of the Equalist attacks. After some contemplation, he decided that he trusted Shinook more than enough to ask for his advice. Sighing, he tossed the moistened towel to the side and walked lazily over to the small table where Shinook was watching from behind a copy of the Republic City Times. "Ya gonna answer me or just stand there like a chump?" Even though his tone was abrasive, Hasook could tell that his friend really cared. Abrasiveness was Shinook's main method of expressing affection.

Hasook took a seat across from the taller man, shrugged and took a sip from the nearby teacup before answering. "It's kind of complicated."

Shinook raised an eyebrow and laid the folded newspaper to the side. He slammed a hand on the table to get Hasook's attention. "Complicated? What you got problems? Who do I need to off?"

The feigned confidence made Hasook crack a slight smile. "Easy there, killer. Not problems that need that kind of solution." Shinook was puzzled.

"So..er..uh, what kinda problems you havin' then?" He leaned back in his chair, almost tipping over, while casually sipping some tea as if he was a part of the upper crust. Hasook just looked down with his chin resting on his hands. "C'mon spill."

Hasook figured there was no way of getting out without telling Shinook what was bothering him. "Alright, alright. The thing is, the other day I met this really awesome guy named Doka, like he's everything I could possibly want in a guy."

"Okay, just clarifying that I don't have the perspective with guys, but I'm going to substitute my knowledge of dealing with girlfriends past to understand. Go on."

Who did Shinook think he was? A therapist?

"Well, I've been on two dates with him and they were both great, but whenever I'm with him, even though he's like perfection, I can't help thinking about another guy."

"Uh oh. That smells about as troublesome as a bowl of sea plums that look like bombs. Who's the other guy...?" Hasook hesitated and looked away. "Do I know 'em?" Shinook leaned back in his chair and stroked the stubble on his chin, before his eyes got wide. "Wait, is it still Bolin?" As soon as Shinook said 'Bolin' Hasook couldn't even look at him. He was flustered and embarrassed. Taking the sudden color change as a cue he'd hit the bullweevil's eye, Shinook stood up and walked over to Hasook. "Look kid, I know what you're feelin', but the situation just doesn't jive. Bolin is like a schoolyard crush, this new guy sounds more like something substantial." He placed his hands on Hasook's shoulders. "I know it's not the easiest thing to hear, but sometimes a guy's just gotta move on. Otherwise, you spend your life chasing somethin' that'll getcha nowhere." Hasook's fists clenched at the last sentence. As Shinook turned to walk back to his seat he noticed the wallclock.

"Ah ostrichhorse feathers! We're almost late. Chen's gonna kill us." Hasook stood up silently and grabbed his things, meeting Shinook at the door. They walked out together into the sunlight. Shinook wrapped his arm around Hasook's shoulders and patted him on the chest. "It's gonna be okay, kid. Sometimes love is the bee's knees; sometimes it's a wash. Cheer up and let's have some fun today."

As they neared the docks, Shinook pulled Hasook into a side alley excitedly. "Hasook! Lookie there!" He pointed to a gargantuan man unloading crates from an Earth Nation barge.

Hasook snapped out of his funk for instant. "I-Is that...?"

"Yessiree, that's good old Tsai Gun."

"Isn't he in prison?"

"Word on the street is he got let out for 'good behaviour'." Shinook enclosed the last two words in air quotes. "Should be interestin'. Last time he worked these docks, I heard he scared a guy so bad he soiled himself." They laughed. "Annnd, to make things better, my least favorite person, good ol' Feng Zhu over there, is workin' today too."

Hasook grinned. "I'm assuming you're going to facilitate making Feng Zhu the new target."

Shinook rubbed his hands together cunningly, "It's like you're a mind reader or somethin'. You should set up camp with that crazy dame in Central. So, you in?"

"Completely."

"Alrighty then, here's what we're gonna do.."

A few minutes later Shinook and Hasook walked up the overseer's hut and punched their timecards with Chen.

"You're lucky boys. A few more minutes and you'd be out the door. Get on your gear and go help at Pier 3." Chen instructed them without once looking up from his newspaper. "Good luck, You've got Tsai Gun on your crew today." He laughed. "Hope you make it back okay."

As Shinook and Hasook pulled on their gloves, Shin grinned and nodded, making sure that Hasook was clear on what they were going to do. Feng Zhu walked past and smirked at Shinook, "C'mon Shinook, what's a matter? Don't wanna get your hands dirty? There are crates that need some liftin." He cackled as he continued walking down the docks.

Some hours later as the end of the shift approached, Hasook nodded at Shinook from across the dock. Tsai Gun was carrying a massive container of ore off of the ship just as Feng Zhu was approaching. Hasook covertly moved his hands and his feet to create a small stumbling block of ice in Tsai Gun's path. In a second the titan walked into the block, dropping the container onto the dock and knocking Feng Zhu down. Needless to say a fight soon ensued which ended with Tsai Gun tossing Feng forcefully into Yue Bay, landing about 5 meters off-shore. Shinook was in stitches. Before long, the shift whistle blew allowing Hasook and Shinook to collect their things. As they walked home, nothing could contain the laughter and high-fives between them.

"That certainly showed that mook Feng Zhu that you don't mess with Shinook and get away with it."

"Yeah! Tsai threw that guy pretty far out into the bay. It was unbelievable."

After the laughing had subsided and they neared home, Shinook looked at Hasook and punched him lightly on the shoulder. "So feelin' any better now loverboy?"

"Yeah actually, I am." Hasook hadn't felt so energized in while. Maybe a good bout of laughter really was all he needed.

They approached the door. A small handwritten note was hanging directly over the knocker. "To Hasook," Shinook read aloud, "Looks like someone's interested in you." He nudged Hasook with his elbow and winked before handing over the paper. Hasook read it carefully beginning to end a few times before processing what it actually said.

Dear Hasook,  
I had such a good time with you the night and I was wondering if you'd want to go watch the pro-bending finals with me. If you do, I'll be outside the Arena tonight after sunset. Hope to see you there,  
Doka

Feeling the compulsion to irk Hasook as much as humanly possible, Shinook started questioning right away. "So who's Doka?," he asked with a lilting and purposely flirty tone. Hasook smirked and smacked him on the arm. "Oh so THAT's who he is." Shinook laughed.

Hasook smirked in return, "Hey, I HAVE a date. I don't think you're one to be talking."

Shinook raised his hands placatingly, "True, true. I'll give you that one." They walked inside still laughing.


	18. A Night to Remember

Despite the cold winds that whipped through the city on late autumn nights, the impeccable sunsets over the ocean with hues of red and pink abundant made the night almost as beautiful as the day. It was the night of the pro-bending finals and Hasook had a date to the match. After ensuring that he was wearing one of his best tunics and pairs of pants, he made the venture across Yue Bay with the ferry, reaching the shores of the Central Peninsula. Navigating through the sparsely populated back alleys to avoid the nightlife crowds, Hasook made his way to the long boardwalk leading the Arena. People were everywhere, leaving barely enough room for Hasook to stand and look for Doka. After a few minutes of searching the masses, Doka eventually appeared right behind him. He jumped at the boy's hand being placed on his shoulder.

"Hey, Hasook! I didn't mean to scare ya!" Doka laughed. Looking Hasook up and down he nodded and gave a small applause, "Well don't you look fancy today! What's the occasion?"

Hasook smirked and jabbed Doka in the side with his elbow, "Oh you know, the usual, taking a hot guy out for a little probending."

"Hope he's not dressed better than I am!"

"I don't know, he's lookin' pretty sharp tonight."

Doka smiled and locked elbows with Hasook. They got a few sidewise glances from onlookers, but nobody said anything to them. Despite having been at the arena quite recently for the semi-finals matches, Hasook and Doka were blown away with the sheer number of people who were attending. From the looks of it, the crowd was at least two or three times as large as the one for the semi-finals, making the seat search a tad more laborious. With some well placed shoves and a lot of luck, the pair managed to nab an aisle seat relatively close to the action. It was almost an hour before the entire stadium had filled to capacity and the match was ready to begin. Hasook was quick to notice the metalbender cops stationed at every entrance to the place and every place in between. It seemed that Council was pretty determined to not let Amon and his crew mess up the biggest bending event of the year. On the other side of the stadium he noticed the police chief, a terrifying woman named Lin Beifong, daughter of the legendary Toph Bei Fong, alongside Councilman Tenzin, the previous Avatar's son. Doka realized that Hasook was staring at them and leaned over to him, almost yelling in his ear to be heard over the cacophony of the crowd. "They're probably here to watch the Avatar play. I remember reading in the papers that she's living with Tenzin over on Air Temple Island."

Hasook turned to Doka with an expression that summarized his reaction perfectly. "You don't say," he said sarcastically, smirking after finishing his thought.

"Hey, hey, I'm just trying to make some small talk, cut a guy a break." Doka jutted out his lower jaw and exaggerated his best Swamp accent, "Sorry that we here Swamp folks can talk so well."

Hasook shoved him playfully, "You're words, not mine." Doka shoved him back, "Jerk."

Shiro Shinobi's voice cut through the white noise of the crowd like a gunshot. His slick one-liners and smooth voice capturing everyone's attention.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, Shiro Shinobi here and boy are you in for a treat tonight. Over the past few months we've seen the city's very best square off in the ring in front of you, all with the dream of making it here tonight. As someone who watches every match personally, I can say this arena is filled to the brim with some copacetic competition. It's come down to the wire, folks, we've narrowed it down to two pulse-pounding teams that couldn't be more opposite. The excitement is giving me the heebie-jeebies. Probending commentator Chong Sichuan has called this the biggest darkhorse matchup since the Boarcupines' lost the crown 8 years back. And how! The underdogs will really have to be hitting on all sixes tonight if they want to have a chance against the champs. Before we go down to the ring to get this baby rollin', let me just remind you that this match is brought to you by Jarnook's Instant Sea Plums, so good you can't tell 'em from the real deal and Han Guan's, if you want eat and you really like meat, it's the place to go."

Hasook rolled his eyes at the advertisments. "They're really getting a bit out of hand with these in match adverts, you can't even escape 'em."

Doka shrugged, "Well, I guess they can make money pretty easily with them. I mean there's got to be a few thousand people here at least. I'd be hardpressed to come up with a better idea."

"Shh, it's starting."

"But you were the one-"

Hasook glared at him, prompting a frustrated "Hmph" from Doka.

The announcer rose out of the center of the stadium brandishing his signature microphone. Spotlights from above focused in on him while the crowd cheered wildly. "Introducing, the challengers: The Future Industries Fire Ferrets!" He emphasized each word and gestured to the Fire Ferrets' entrance, inciting rapid cheers of joy from the group sitting a few rows in front of Hasook and Doka. They were dressed in outfits that looked like handmade replicas of what Bolin, Korra and Mako wore on a daily basis. It was a tad creepy, but cute nonetheless. Mako, Bolin and Korra made their entrance followed by the spotlight. Bolin was showboating as usual, making muscles towards the crowd or winking at a few cute girls, it just made Hasook sick.

Doka stared intently at the Fire Ferrets as they entered, following Hasook's line of sight down to the solidly built Earthbender boy with a bad case of babyface. Why was he so mesmerized with this guy? He knew that Hasook had been on the Fire Ferrets for a bit and was friendly with them, well...one of them, but something was off.

"Hasook." Hasook turned to look at him.

"Yeah? What is it?" he said innocently.

"You said you were on the Fire Ferrets for a while, right?"

"Yeah?" Hasook raised an eyebrow, "Why?"

"No reason," Doka rolled his eyes, "You just seem pretty interested in that Bolin character."

It took every ounce of Hasook's strength to maintain his composure. "Uh..we..I'm good friends with him."

"Good friends or a former squeeze?" Doka crossed his arms, somewhat frustrated.

"Just friends! He doesn't swing that way. What's with all the questions anyway?" Hasook was baffled as to why Doka seemed so annoyed with him.

Doka sighed and rested his chin on his hands, "I don't know. I guess whenever he's around when we're together, you just seem so..."

"So...what?"

"...preoccupied."

Hasook felt an immense pang of guilt. He'd fallen right into the situation he'd been so desperate to avoid. Doka had noticed that Hasook's eyes were still glued to Bolin and it was painful to watch. Hasook liked Doka, he liked him a lot. He was pretty much the perfect guy: caring, talented, sweet, but Hasook still had his heart set on Bolin. Too ashamed of himself to admit it, Hasook looked to the side.

Doka bit his lower lip and placed a hand on Hasook's knee. "I get it. You're still crushing pretty hard on him." He sighed, still biting his lip, "Just tell me yes or no, that's all I want."

Hasook was shaking, he couldn't even see straight. Doka had asked him the one question that smashed him to pieces. Feeling guilty about leading Doka on, he felt compelled to confess. With his head in his hands, he whispered out, "Yes.."

With that the match began. The pair watched in silence as the Wolfbats clearly cheated their way to what appeared to be a first round knockout. At the last moment however, Korra used her unbelievable strength the hurl Mako back up on the playing field, keeping the Fire Ferrets in the game. He landed a blow on Tahno sending him flying. Doka smiled at the sight of the cocky waterbender getting launched. Tahno picked himself up and started round two with a vengence. After fighting to a standstill, Korra squared off against Tahno in a 1-on-1, scoring a vicious knockout.

Doka stood up and cheered, "Go Korra!" while Hasook looked down at the field to Bolin's cheery face in the background. The Fire Ferret wannabees a few rows ahead had caught Tahno's mask, enciting laughter from Doka. If he was hurting as much as Hasook figured he would be, Doka was certainly hiding it masterfully.

The Final Round began and ended in the blink of an eye. Some dirty water and earth combos easily K.O.'ed the Fire Ferrets. Despite skepticism from the crowd and Shiro Shinobi, the Wolfbats were crowned the victors. The fanfare, was shortlived.

Doka was standing in protest, screaming insults down at Tahno when he noticed a man a few rows in front of them pulling something out of a bag. He heard the crackle of electricity and saw a Metalbender cop at the nearby entrace get electrocuted. The man rushed at him, with the same device on his arm. Moving as quickly as he could, Doka uncapped the drinks of a few audience members near him to get at least some liquid to work with. Behind him he heard Hasook get zapped by another assailant. "Hasook!," he screamed, blasting the attacker with frozen shards of lychee juice and cola, but Hasook had already fallen to the ground. Looking up through his hazy vision he could see two of the attackers surrounding Doka. With only a little bit of liquid available to bend and the moat being way outside his range, Doka braced his stance. Focusing as much as he could he drew a little extra water from the humid atmosphere, but it wasn't enough. The ordeal seemed like it lasted hours, but it had only been a few seconds at most. As the two masked attackers moved in to strike, Doka fired the liquid at the one on the stairs, sending him careening backwards to the hard concrete floor. An audible crack was heard, but it was muffled by the crackle of electricity as the second attacker grabbed his shoulder. The liquid he had begun to bend at his attacker fell to the ground with a splash. Doka could feel every cell in his body reeling at the electricity's searing touch, the last thing he saw was Hasook lying beneath the bench staring with fear and anguish as he fell to the ground.

Hasook awoke with the sound of an explosion and panicked, screaming "Doka!" at the top of his lungs. He scanned the crowd for the masked men and for Doka, but they were gone. People were in a state of pure panic, running for the nearest exit. As he looked out into the center of the stadium, he saw that the arena had been destroyed and what appeared to be Equalists were being airlifted out. Suddenly, a huge water tornado burst up from below carrying the Avatar in pursuit of Amon. It was one of the most powerful displays of waterbending Hasook had ever seen. This kind of power was something that you just didn't see in probending matches. Even this was not enough as she lost control within meters of the Equalists and falling back to the Earth. Amazingly, the Police chief showed her unbelievable skill with metalbending, launching into the air, catching the Avatar and then using her own momentum to rocket Korra up through the roof. The chief soon followed after her. Taking the opportunity to get out, Hasook ran as fast as he could through the enormous building before finally reaching the docks.

It was a disaster scene. The police boats had all been destroyed and sat in the bay engulfed in flames. An airship had also fallend and was leaking oil out into the water. Hasook was concerned that Doka hadn't been there when he woke up, but he was one of the last ones in the arena. He figured that Doka had just escaped with the earlier wave of spectators, too enraged with him to wake Hasook up. Focusing his mind on the task at hand, Hasook quickly ran over to the crowd of waterbenders gathered out on the far side of the docks and followed them into the bay to contain the damage and rescue people trapped in the wreckage.

Some time later Doka awoke in a dark metal room. Outside he could hear the whirring of propeller blades. "An Airship," he thought. As he looked around the room he saw a logo on the wall and his heart stopped. "Equality" it said. He was trapped aboard an Equalist airship. Panicked, he tried to loosen the bolas binding his arms and legs, but to no avail. Footsteps were heard down the hallway: steel-toed boots against an iron floor. The footsteps came closer and closer, stopping in front of the heavy door opposite the wall Doka was tied against. Keys jingled and the tumblers of the lock fell into place. With a metallic creak the door swung open.

"Hello my waterbending friend," said cool voice. Doka couldn't see his face as they were all obscured in the shadows, but the voice resonated within him. He had heard the voice on the radio before, but not for any scheduled programming. It was Amon. Determined not to show his fear, Doka remained silent, knowing his voice would quaver if he spoke. "Welcome to our little airship. Quaint isn't it?" Doka said nothing. Amon signalled one of the men to turn on the lights, bathing the room in an unnatural yellow. Amon walked closer and closer, trying to elicit a reaction. "What is your name?" Again, Doka said nothing. "It would be in your best interest to speak."

"Doka."

"See that wasn't so hard. Now, I'm sure you remember what happened earlier tonight. Where you forcefully blasted an innocent man down a flight of concrete stairs, causing severe injuries." Doka grunted.

Speaking through his teeth in rage he said, "I did that in self-defense. Your men were planning to electrocute me. How can you justify that as innocence?"

Amon walked up to him and stared him straight in the eyes. "I'm so very glad you asked. You see that fear you experienced is what benders instill into non-benders every single day. All I did was give you a taste of your own medicine. Your kind are the ruthless scum that pollute this city with crime and corruption."

"At least we don't give maniacs the power to hurt innocents." Amon grabbed his face.

"Oh, you're so very wrong. You benders are given an unnatural advantage over humanity by chance, allowing you to suppress the rest of us as you wish. My purpose is to remove you from the equation and balance the scales."

"You talk behind the pulpit of peace and equality, yet you show no remorse when ripping part of a person's soul away from them. I agree that the government of the city is not representative. I'm from the Foggy Swamp Tribe, which has no representation either, but there are ways to go about this peacefully that you've willfully ignored."

"Peace is not an option. The benders had their chance and you've lost it. Now you will experience that firsthand." Amon stepped closer to Doka and began to raise his hands. "How far would you go to save your bending?" Doka thought about his family, his friends, even Hasook and realized that they were far more important than anything else.

"You can take my bending, that's not important enough to sacrifice anyone."

Amon scoffed, "Look at you! A bender feigning modesty. How quaint! You speak through a facade of false emotions. You have a special power and that is what makes you unique. Without it, you are nothing."

Doka scoffed right back at him, "You don't seem to have understood me so I'll clarify. The reason I don't care if you take my bending away is that I would never make someone else go through what you're about to do in my stead."

"Bravery will get you nothing. You benders are all the same. All of you make the same mistakes and hide behind the same lies. In a moment though, that won't be of any concern to you." Amon stepped closer still, coming face to mask with Doka. With a sinister look in his eyes, he placed his thumb on Doka's forehead and grasped the back of his neck. Doka had never felt anything so awful in his entire life. It was as if part of his very life force was being drawn away, in move of desperate vengence, Doka tried to focus all of his remaining strength into bloodbending Amon's arm. He knew that without the full moon to power him, the technique would never work, but he had to try. It was all too late though. Amon removed his hands from Doka. "Congratulations. You are now equal."

Amon's companions ran up to him and unhitched the bolas binding his arms and legs. Doka fell to the ground at Amon's feet. Amon looked down at him, "How does it feel?"  
Forcing himself up, Doka stood on shaky legs and looked Amon in the eyes. As the soulless eyes stared right through him, Doka mustered all that was left of his strength and spit at Amon. "That's how I feel."

"Get rid of him." Amon pulled a cloth from his pocket and turned to walk away.

"I..I won't give up...until I take you down..." Doka managed to huff between breaths. Amon turned slightly to look at him.

"I'm afraid that won't be happening. Your journey ends here." Amon gestured to the two mooks behind him. "Take out the trash."

The two grunts carried Doka down onto one of the metal balconies jutting into the open air. The airship lowered significantly and Doka could see the water approaching from below. As he turned to fight, a third larger grunt restrained him. Together, they tossed him off the balcony and watched him hit the ocean below.

Doka survived the fall, but he'd been injured and they figured he'd die of exhaustion before reaching the shore.

Amon looked on from the bridge. "You lose, Doka." He laughed sinisterly.


	19. The Red Tide

A few days had passed and Hasook had seen no trace of Doka anywhere. Even though he was desperately mad at the boy for leaving him in the Arena, he still needed to talk to him to piece together what had happened. After talking with Shinook and his mother, Hasook decided that perhaps the best thing to do was to simply go to Doka's home and try to find him there.

Shinook and Hasook were walking down the alleys of Shu Dai on course for the ferry to the Central Peninsula. They were talking casually about the recent occurences involving Amon and what would happen next.

"Ya know, I really don't see what Amon's big course o' action is here. Ok, ok, so the guy zaps a few benders and takes away peoples' bending..." Shinook looks away before resuming, "Which even though it's pretty freakin' scary and traumatic on the personal level, I can't really see one mook bein' a threat to everyone."

Hasook nodded in agreement, "I agree with what you're saying, but who's to say Amon isn't being funded by someone with some serious hay? The zappy-zap gloves that they showed off at the probending finals aren't exactly something the average guy can make thousands of."

Shin raised an eyebrow, "But who could it be? Not like Future Industries or Cabbage Corp are anti-bender, they both sell a buncha products that everybody uses and even a couple just for benders. I mean even the Triads use their cars and they make the techno stuff for the power plants too." He shrugged his shoulders and put his hands into his pockets, rustling around the change. "I can't thinka any otha non-benders who'd have the moolah to do somethin' like that."

"So, not to rehash, but what happened between you and this dude that makes you think he just up and left like some kinda schlup?"

"Well, we went to the match together and things were going pretty well. When the Fire Ferrets came out though, I saw Bolin and I just got kind of lost in thought. The match got me fired up too since it was such a cheap call. I think in the midst of it all, I really ignored him and it pissed him off." Hasook looked down, prompting Shin to smack him in the back of the head.

"Wit good cause! Kid's got a good head on his shoulders. He can tell when someone's ignorin' him." Hasook looked away, with his face turning sour rapidly, "What you did was wrong, man. You made him think you liked him while you were still actin' like a little schoolgirl ova Mr. Fancypants Earthbender Bolin. That's not cool."

"I did like him!" Hasook turned to Shin, screaming loudly even amidst the crowded alley. Shin turned with an equally sour expression on his face.

"Then explain to me why he left!"

"I already told you!"

"Look, kid! You can't have everythin' you want. The world don't work that way. Look at me, do you think I WANT to be some powerless mook? You like I like living every single day thinkin' 'bout what I coulda done differently? You don't even know how lucky you were! You had someone who was perfect and you let 'em get away, 'cause you're still hung up on someone who doesn't even like you like that. Jeez."

Hasook was silent. This was the first time Shin had really shown frustration openly about losing his bending. Up until this point he'd kept it bottled up inside, festering like a cancer. He wanted to rebuff Shin's points about Doka and Bolin, but what Shin said was the truth.

Shinook was still breathing heavily from the extended rant, but he noticed that Hasook stood there silently before him and moved forward, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Hasook, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to blow my top."

Behind the dark brown bangs, Hasook's crystal blue eyes stared right into his. "No, you're right...about everything. Let's go, we have to get to his place by the time he usually gets in from work."

Without warning Hasook started walking again as if nothing had happened, ignoring the stupefied stares of the onlookers who'd seen the screaming match. Shin trailed him silently, not talking again until they reached the docks. As Hasook went to pay for his ticket, Shin stepped in front of him saying "I got this" before handing over enough money for both of them. After a short ferry ride across Yue Bay, they arrived on the Central Peninsula and began the trek through the labyrinthin grid of streets towards the Foggy Swamp neighborhood near the city's northern limits. Central Station was alive with business and colorful characters as usual, but otherwise the journey was a relatively quiet one. Neither were in the mood to talk much after their confrontation back in Shu Dai earlier. Within an hour's time, they reached culdesac crisscrossed with vines.

"Never expected to see vines in a city. Guess I can check that of my bucket list." Shin starts to laugh, turning to Hasook with the hope he'd cracked the boy's emotional shell, but there was no laughter returned, just a silent look. Hasook walked to the center of the circle and pointed to the tenement door straight ahead.

"Doka's family lives there. I remember from when I took him home."

Shin responded sarcastically, "Thank you Lieutenant Obvious. I'd hope you know where he lives considering you've been leading us this entire time."

Hasook turned and glared at him. Shin raised his hands in apology, "Sorry, sorry. Jeez."

They walked up to the door and knocked twice. A female voice responded from inside, "Coming." The door opened to reveal a woman in her late 30s dressed in a plain green skirt with a earthen-looking top. She smiled and asked, "How can I help you?"

"I came here to see if I could talk to Doka. We kind of got into a bit of an argument and I wanted to make amends." Hasook spoke softly and made minimal eye contact with the woman.

"Oh, you must be Hasook!" She sounded somewhat positive, which he figured was at least the beginnings of a good sign, "Doka mentioned that he went on a date with a boy a week or so ago. I'm Kalea, his mother, please come in."

Kalea led them down the narrow hallway to a small door at the end of the hallway. "we own these three units back here, but I figured we could at least sit in the kitchen." They walked into the small room and sat down at the meager table. "I know you came here to talk to Doka, but the thing is...," she hesitated for a moment, "I haven't seen my son since the pro-bending finals." Hasook's heart stopped. Doka was missing? How was that even possible? Why would he just leave and not go back home? "I was hoping that, maybe you...you knew something..." She placed her hands on the table and the happy demeanor she'd feigned earlier was gone, completely replaced with that of a distraught mother.

Hasook sat silent for a moment before responding, "K-Kalea, that last thing I remember before I blacked out was Doka standing up for some reason. I-I figured he was leaving, but right when I noticed the people with the electric gloves, everything just went black. I'm so sorry I can't help more." He placed a hand on hers. Tears began to well up in her eyes. Just then, two small sets of footsteps were heard running towards the kitchen from the other room. Wiping the tears from her eyes, Kalea greeted two younger children. "Kanoa, Noelani why aren't you two upstairs practicing?"

"We heard people come in and we like people." Kanoa smiled widely at Shinook and Hasook. He was missing at least two of his baby teeth, leaving gaps in his mouth.

"Who are these weirdos?" Noelani pointed unabashedly at the two guests and grimaced.

Kalea apologized immediately, "I'm so sorry, these are my two other children, Kanoa and Noelani. Twins. Noelani means weirdo affectionately I'm sure."

Shin jumped into the conversation, "Don't worry 'bout, kids are kids."

Hasook chimed in as well, "Yeah, it's no trouble.

Kalea bent down to the rambunctious pair and introduced the guests. "Kids this is Hasook and ... uh..."

"Shinook, sorry I didn't introduce myself." He laughed.

"They're friends of Doka and I need some alone time to talk with them, is that okay?"

They responded together, "Sure mommy! That's fine."

As they ran up the stairs she yelled after them, "Remember what I told you, if I catch you with ice, no dessert tonight." Shin and Hasook heard the collective moan from above. "I'm sorry, they can be a real handful sometimes. My husband jokes that they were supposed to be born as airbenders instead of waterbenders."

Shin smirked while Hasook remained serious. The smile disappeared from Kalea's face as soon as the twins were out of earshot. "So...you don't know where Doka went?"

Hasook shook his head.

Kalea gripped nose and closed her eyes, clearly thinking hard on the topic before speaking. "Doka's never late without warning me ahead of time and the last time he was late unintentionally was almost a year ago now." She looked away.

Shin was curious and broke the silence, "So why was he late back then?" Kalea didn't respond.

On the Western shores of Republic City, a man in tattered robes walked silently through the streets. His hair was unkempt and freed from the wolf's tail that normally controlled it. The sleeves were gone from his tunic and the legs on his pants had been torn into shreds. The street vendors looked on in fear as he walked down the streets, mistaking him for some sort of wild man. Eventually, he reached Szehai Square, the center of all the business that went down on the Western Peninsula, both crooked and legitimate. Walking to the northern corner of the square, he turned down a shadowed alley, noticing a wooden awning stained red. An imposing man stood guard outside of the door, right beneath an old lantern hanging precariously from the awning. He turned to face the approaching man.

"Who are you? If ya know what's good for ya, you should turn back right now." He stepped forward to get a better look at the approaching man.

The stranger in tattered clothes turned his body to reveal his left shoulder. A scarlet colored moon symbol had been tattooed on the spot. "Alignak, it's me."

"Doka?" The guard stepped back in shock. "What are ya doing here? I thought you were out for good."

Doka brushed the hair out of his eyes, "I thought so too, but I need the Red Monsoons' help."

"Well, like we said, you're always welcome. I'll call the guys down. Cop a squat in here on the couch."  
Alignak ducked to walk through the short doorframe, guiding Doka behind him. "Right there." He pointed to an anitque couch in a small foyer left of the entrance. Doka walked into the foyer and sat down, watching Alignak run upstairs to grab the others. It had been almost a year now since he'd last stepped foot inside this foyer, yet everything still looked the same. The same antique furniture and kitschy knick-knacks intersparsed with a few decorations from the water tribes. They'd kept the same radio as well, refusing to upgrade to the latest and greatest from Cabbage Corp. As Doka waited for the others to return, he couldn't help but remember the night in which everything had changed.

(Flashback in Sepia)

It was a cold winter night, but oweing to the city's drought, there was almost no snow on the streets. The full moon hung low in the sky, casting an eerie blue-white light over everything. The stillness of the night was undercut by the sounds of flames and electricity crackling in the streets.

Doka, Nahele and Siku, were the three members of the Red Monsoons sent out to ward off any efforts by the Agni Kais from trying to encroach on Monsoon turf. All three waterbenders were more than ready to fight against the Agni Kai grunts, they'd expected, but they were caught completely off-guard when they came across three of the rival gang's best fighters. Doka and his two companions fought valiantly for nearly an hour against the attackers, managing to defeat the two weaker members, but everything changed after that.

In a fit of rage, the final member began bending lightning relentlessly, firing bolts off with abandon. Doka was able to dodge the initial attacks, but he managed to graze Nahele and Siku, leaving both severly wounded and on the ground. Doka was left alone to face the much more powerful attacker and despite the influence of the moon, his waterbending alone simply wasn't enough. Just as the attacker began to move in for the kill, Doka reacted instictively out of pure fear and anger, forcing his hands forward. The firebender was stopped in his tracks, unable to move under Doka's influence. Realizing he was bloodbending, Doka was horrified and simply tried to force the man into a kneeling position so that he could restrain him. However, due to his intense emotions and inexperience with the technique, Doka underestimated his strength. As he moved his hands to force his opponent to kneel, he felt a shockwave in the attacker's chi. Unwillingly, Doka had torn some of the muscles in man's left arm and leg. The pain resonated in the violent scream the firebender let loose. Terrified, Doka attempted to just release him, but as he twisted his hands to release his control, he heard the crunch of bone. Siku regained consciousness just as this happened.

"Doka...what did you.."

Doka turned with tears in his eyes, "I don't know!"

Siku raised a hand to calm him, "Just breathe. Get Nahele and I back to headquarters. We need to get out of here."

Doka turned and gathered as much water as he could from the surroundings and healed his companions enough to walk. They walked in silence and said nothing, even after returning to base. Not even Igaluk, head of the Monsoons, could get a word out of Doka for days. He just sat on the couch in the foyer, speechless and motionless.

Finally three days after the incident, Igaluk was able to get Doka to talk. The horror of the incident brought the boy to tears. He'd bloodbent and rather than passively controlling the person to force surrender, he'd maimed him, tearing muscle from bone and cracking bones unwillingly. Never before had he had such power of a living being and he never wanted to have it again. After accepting his pay for the job, he resigned from the Red Monsoons.

(End Flashback)

He heard Alignak walking down the stairs with the rest of the crew, including Doka's replacement, Oke, behind him. As they looked into the foyer, the group ran in to hug him.

"Doka man, it's been way too long!" Nahele patted him on the shoulder.

"Long time no see, stranger!" Siku gave him a loose hug.

Igaluk walked up to him with a smile on his face, "Hey kid, I'm glad to see yer safe. You've looked betta, but yer alive."

Oke waved awkwardly and joined the other Monsoons on the long sectional couch across from where Doka was seated. Although they all must have been burning with questions, as the leader, Igaluk had the right to the first one.

"Doka, last time I saw ya was when ya left us last year. After what happened, I doubted I'd ever see you around these parts again. So I gotta ask, what happened to ye that broughtcha back here?"

Doka was silent for a while after Igaluk stopped speaking. He took a deep breath and explained. "You know that Equalist mook Amon? The dude with the mask who leads the wackjob non-benders?"

The Monsoons looked back and forth at each other before Igaluk answered, "Yeah, what about 'im?"

"I'm guessin' you guys have heard about the probending finals then."

"Yeah, I heard some wackos showed up and scared some folks." Igaluk raised his hands indifferently, "Folks is always gettin' scared, nothin' new."

Doka sighed and continued, "It's not just that folks were scared. There was a reason to be. Those guys, those Equalists have these electro gloves that they used to take out the metalbenders."

Igaluk smirked, "They make gizmos that can knock out da cops? Sign me up!" The others laughed.

"I'm not done." Doka spoke firmly and sternly, prompting a quick hush from the gang. "They use them against ALL benders, not just the cops. I fought against one and lost."

They were silent. "And the rumors of Amon being able to take people's bending away are true." He looked away.

Alignak was the first to break the uncomfortable silence, "H-How do you know it's real, Doka?"

"Because it happened to me." Nahele and Siku dropped the teacups they were holding, letting the porcelain shatter loudly against the wooden floors of the foyer. Igaluk put his head in his hands, not sure whether to be angry or terrified. "I can't bend anymore. It's gone."

"Doka was late because something terrible happened while he was on a security detail with the Red Monsoons."

Shin raised his eyebrows at the mention of the other gang's name. Kalea continued emotionlessly while staring intently at the table, "I don't even know what happened that night, I'm not sure I want to know either. All that I know is that the next day he resigned from the Red Monsoons completely and when he came home, he barely said anything for almost a week."

Hasook couldn't help but wonder what must have happened to spur on such a reaction. He was still in shock from hearing the sweet and considerate boy he'd met and eaten dinner with had been a member of one of the city's most prominent gangs. That explained where he learned to fight so well.

"When Doka did finally start talking again, he would go out into the marshes and train for countless hours refining his waterbending. Akamu and I didn't know what do about it. After a month or so of this intense training, he gradually started returning to normal."

Shin had turned away during the discussion. He'd heard stories about the Red Monsoons through Zolt's contacts in the Triple threats. The one that immediately came to mind was about how during a turf war with the Agni Kais, some random kid from the Monsoons went crazy and bloodbent one of the Agni Kai guys until his muscles tore and his bones broke. From what Hasook had told him about Doka, Shin thought it was a bit of a stretch to assume it was he who'd done it, but it wasn't out of the realm of possibility.

As they were talking, the radio crackled on.

"Gao Guozhang here, bringing you Republic City's latest. Reports are coming in that the police have found evidence linking Cabbage Corporation to the Equalist Movement and have moved in to take the company's owner into custody. Cabbage Corp's assets are set to be frozen at this time as well. Is this an actual case or is it merely a move by Cabbage Corp's competitor, Future Industries to clear the playing field? Folks, that's for you to decide."

Kalea, Shinook and Hasook sat at the table silently until Kalea broke the silence. "This 'Revolution' they're talking about is much more dangerous than I ever thought. My entire family are waterbenders. I'm sorry, but knowing that you were at that Arena,...I-I just can't take the risk of keeping you here. You should go." She led Hasook and Shin to the door, closing and locking it behind them.

"Sheesh, so much for a warm reception." Shin kicked a bottle on the ground. "So what are we gonna do now?"

Hasook looked at the ground and clenched his fists. "I'm not sure. I-I'm just not sure."

"Well, then let's at least grab a bite to eat while we think. I'm starving."  



	20. The Dark Side of the Moon

As they were very nearly shoved out of the tenement doors, Hasook and Shin heard the tumbling of locks behind them. The windows were soon blocked out as well by descending panels of green cloth. Shin merely shrugged at the sight and patted Hasook on the back. "Don't be too hard on yourself, kid, everyone's getting a bit jumpy lately. It's not just the Equalists either. That whole 'Task Force' nonsense that the Avatar got involved in ain't exactly helpin' eitha."

Hasook sighed and tried his best to feign a grin at Shin. "Thanks. I'm still worried about Doka though. I just feel like I was totally useless, ya know?"

Shin exhaled heavily, "On our way home, I can't believe I'm sayin' this, but why don't we stop by the Police Station and file a report for your missin' boyfriend?"

Hasook flashed instantly rouge before turning away somewhat shyly and agreeing with a nod.

The scene changes abruptly to the Red Monsoon headquarters in the middle of Doka's conversation with his former mates. He'd just told them that Amon had taken away his bending, presumably permanently. Igaluk, Alignak and the others sat dumbfounded by what they'd just heard.

Nahele was the first to break the silence. "That mook's head is gonna be mounted on this wall." He gestured to the ornately decorated wall behind him. "I'm not gonna rest until I show him just how scary us benders can be."

Oke and Siku quickly piped in, "Yeah!" The younger of the two continued with an unabashedly aggressive tone, "I say if Amon and his lot don't feel like playin' by the rules, we ain't playin' by the rules either." Glancing at the calendar pinned haphazardly to the wall next to him, Siku smirked. "We got ourselves a full moon coming up in a few weeks. I say we bust some Equalist heads. I know yous guys don't like talkin' about it, but I feel like we should loosen up a little, maybe show these guys a little bloodbending act-"

Doka cut him off very abruptly. "No!" The other Monsoons stared at him, baffled as to why he WOULDN'T want to go bloodbender on these fools. "I didn't come here for that. I'm not out for revenge."

Igaluk grabbed a hard candy from the dish on the tea table, popping it into his mouth before responding. "So, what did you come here for? Not just to exchange pleasantries I assume."

The former waterbender looked away pensively, "No, I came here to ask for your help. There are people in this city that mean a lot to me and I need to make sure they're safe."

"I'm listenin'"

"My family is top priority. I need two guys to make sure they get out of the city alright and let 'em know I'm okay."

Nahele and Siku looked at each other and responded simultaneously, "We'll take care of it."

Doka nodded at them in thanks.

Alignak cut in immediately, "And who else? What else do ya need help with?"

"It's..it's a bit complicated..." Doka hesitated and looked away, piquing Igaluk's curiosity and sympathy.

"Kid, ya worked with us for a while. You're as good as family, spill." He placed a hand on Doka's shoulder.

Doka sighed and continued, "I need a few guys to protect someone in Shu Dai. Guy named Hasook."

Oke laughed, saying, "What's complicated about that?"

"I've kind of been seein' him for a bit."

"Huh?" What you talkin' 'bout?"

"As in dating, sod for brains."

Igaluk laughed, "Sod for brains! I like it. You still got yer edge, kid. Don't worry 'bout it. I'll have a few guys go ova to Shu Dai to protect yer boyfriend."

Doka was happy, albeit shocked that it had gone so smoothly. "So..it's cool then?"

The elder waterbender laughed again, "Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's copaceptic, kid. Don't change nothin'." The laughter broke suddenly into dead seriousness a moment later. "All that I ask in return is that I have your permission to destroy that masked freak if I come across 'im."

Doka smirked and shook the extended hand. "Done."

Igaluk grinned. "Wonderful." Turning around to the archway leading to the hallway, he called out loudly, "Massak, whip us up some grub. Gotta make our old friend feel welcome before he ditches again."

A few days had passed since Hasook and Shin had paid Doka's family a visit. As promised, they'd stopped by the Police Headquarters, albeit with Shin in disguise, and dropped off a tip about Doka's disappearance. The desk attendant filed it away with the others and said he would notify the pair if anything was found out about the case.

The next few days were dominated by stories on every radio station about bending families sending children to relatives in the other nations, scared off by the nascent Equalist movement. The only story that could compete for airtime was the thorough investigation of Cabbage Corp by the police for suspected Equalist activity.

One morning however, the crackle of the radio awakened Shin from his slumber.

"...Gao Guozhang here with the latest on the hour. Our sources on site at Future Industries have confirmed rumors that the police are beginning to investigate the Satomobile producers for conspiracy to aid the Equalists. Early results are saying nothing has been found, but let's not count the turtleducks before they hatch. Stay tuned for more at 11."

Shin shot up in bed, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. He looked at his reflection in the basin of water sitting at his feet. He looked the same as always, the only defining feature of his physique being the long lightning scar across his back from a turf war with the Agni Kais a few years back. One of their benders managed to nail him near point blank with a bolt, but Zolt was able to redirect it from Shin's body before it killed him. As he came out of his daze, Shin began to process what the report had said. He just shook his head in disbelief. "I really don't know what to expect anymore. Amon and his possy are really throwin' everyone for a loop."

The sentence was enough to stir Hasook from his morning daze, "What?"

Shin was startled to see Hasook awake behind him, but quickly composed himself. "Apparently, the metalbenders are shifting their attention to Future Industries now."

Thinking little of the development, Hasook shrugged and said, "Oh. Thought it was something important."

Shin frowned slightly, "I think it might be. Who else other than Cabbage Co. and Future Industries has the techno mumbo jumbo to make somethin' like those zap gloves?"

Before Hasook could respond, a sharp knock came at the door. Pulling on a shirt quickly and brushing the stray hairs out of his eyes, Shin stomped over to the door huffing, "Really? At this hour? Betta be good." With a swift angry motion he swung the door open, revealing a tall imposing figure that he instantly recognized. "Alignak..."

The taller man's expression turned to shock when he figured out that he was talking to Shady Shin. "Shin, what's Triple Threat like you doing over here? Got no bending to hold territory anymore." He chuckled.

Shin was far from pleased to see the Red Monsoon at their doorway. "I live here. More importantly, why are you here?" His extended finger poked weakly at Alignak's chest.

"I'm here to see a guy named Hasook."

Hasook's ears perked up immediately. He ran to the door in nothing but a pair of tattered pants. "I'm Hasook."

Shin rubbed his temples horrified at what might happen next.

Alignak smirked and Shin took a defensive stance, "I have a message from Doka." Hasook pushed Shin out of the way to hear what the imposing man had to say. "He sent me to tell you he's okay and not to worry. He instructed me and Oke here to keep an eye on this block for any Equalists that might be comin' around for you."

"Oh." Hasook was elated that Doka was safe and that he cared enough to send Red Monsoon members to keep an eye on Shu Dai, but he obviously wasn't going to let his emotions get he best of him. "I'm so glad to hear he's okay. Thanks for keeping an eye out too. An extra pair of eyes can never hurt."

Alignak nodded and gestured to the scrawny Oke behind him to turn around, "No problem. We'll be around."

As the door closed behind them, Shin ran up to Hasook and grabbed him by the shoulders. "Are you INSANE? You just accepted help from the Monsoons. Now you're gonna owe them and you don't wanna owe a Triad anythin'"

Hasook laughed, "Doka sent them. Just breathe, I'm sure it'll be fine. Anyways, we have to head out for work in a bit."

Shin nodded and sighed walking over to his pile of clothes and selecting the things that looked least dirty.

After the sun had set, the duo set off for home. Bursting through the door, they immediately encountered the wonderful smell of Sepay's Sea Prune stew and rushed over to the table.

"Hi mom."

"Hi Sepay."

She laughed and put out a few bowls on the table and ladeled portions into each bowl. "You two certainly look hungry tonight!" As always she walked over to the small radio on the countertop and clicked it on. They always would listen to news before any discussion of their own days began. They were eating later than usual tonight, but Sepay figured the Gao's newscast would still be running. She sat down at the table while the radio honed in on the selected station and Gao Guozhang's voice echoed in the small kitchen.

"Folks if you're just joining us now there are big things going on in our city tonight."

Shin, Sepay and Hasook all looked at each other, unsure what to expect.

"Reports are coming in that Future Industries has been found irrevocably guilty of aiding the Equalist cause. During a police raid on the Sato Estate, an underground factory was found to be producing the electro gloves used by Amon's henchmen during the probending finale fiasco. Unfortunately those involved were unavailable for comment, but it appears Chief Beifong was one of only two police metalbenders to return. This is sure to be a blemish on her nearly spotless record, especially after the finale fiasco."

Shin dropped his spoon, creating an audible *clink* as it hit the table. "I knew it. I knew it would come down to one of those two. Looks like old Sato had his fill of us benders." He tried to laugh it off, but the reality was all too harsh. "If Sato has been making those, who knows how many have gotten out?"

Sepay and Hasook were silent.

"Even with the Monsoon lumaxes guarding this place, I'm gettin' worried."

Sepay broke the silence, "What worries me more is how the Council and Police will react. With things like those out there, Amon and Sato have effectively made every non-bender a threat in their eyes."

They finished their dinner quietly and ventured off to bed. All were unable to sleep a wink.

That morning, the radio and newspapers were abuzz with Chief Beifong's replacement and the promotion of Captain Saikhan to the role of Chief. Hasook and Shin were curious to see the public's reaction and decided to venture over into the area of the Police HQ to check it out.

"So do you think Beifong chose to step down?" Hasook looked inquistively at Shin as they climbed aboard the ferry.

"No. I think they're just usin' her as a scapegoat. They don't wanna be to blame for eight missin' officers so they're sloughing it off on her." Shin put his hands in his pockets and looked out into the bay. "Even though the dame has been tryin' to bust me for years, I can't help feelin' bad. Having eight guys disappearances on your conscience ain't easy for anybody."

Hasook shrugged in agreement. He'd heard from a friend that Mako, Bolin and the Avatar were there too, but got out. All he could hope was that they got out in one piece.

Shin noticed the lull in conversation and perceptively probed at Hasook's silence, "So I heard the Avatar, Mako, Bolin and even the airbender were there. Scares me to think what took those guys out."

"Yeah..." Hasook leaned on the railing and stared out to the open ocean. Shin placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, I'm sure Bolin's fine. The kid's got the Avatar and the airbender with him. Pretty stacked team if ye ask me."

"How did you.." Hasook stopped himself. It was pointless to ask how Shin knew what he was thinking. More importantly was the fact that Shin knew exactly what he was thinking. "Nevermind. I-I just feel like I'm lost. Like I have a guy who sent Red Monsoons to guard my house against the Equalists and the loveable goofball. I don't think I can choose."

Shin smacked him on the back of the head. "That's selfish, kid. You can't just tease someone along like that. 'Specially someone who's gone to the lengths Doka has for ye. Get yer hormonal little head on straight for once! There are more important things than who you wanna canoodle right now."

Hasook felt instantly guilty for even having the thought. Shin had hit the nail square on the head. There were far more important things going on right now. Romance would have to wait.

They arrived at the Square right after the induction had concluded. Hasook noticed Korra and Tenzin at the front of the crowd speaking with Tarrlok, the councilman from the Northern Tribe. Shin noticed the three also and spit on the ground to his side. "Can't stand that pretentious little Northern Tribe pretty boy. Thinks he's the catowl's meow. Makes me sick."

Hasook noticed that Korra walked up to Tarrlok threateningly and said something to him, but a moment later she was crestfallen and retreated back to Tenzin as Tarrlok walked away smirking darkly. "Something's not right about him."

A few nights later, Hasook and Shin were walking down the streets of Shu Dai, heading home from work. Sepay was out visiting friends in the Dragon Flats Borough that night. Hasook was enthralled by Mako, Bolin, Korra and Sato's daughter's feats of vigilante justice over the past few nights. They'd formed a sort of covert group to go and fight crime where the police and Tarrlok's task forces missed. The Avatar and the brothers had earned quite a reputation in a very short amount of time.

As Hasook and Shin rounded the corner, Hasook noticed Team Avatar in a black satomobile about a block away. He tugged on Shin's sleeve and turned him to look. "Look, it's Bolin, Korra and them. I wonder what they're up to?"

Shin raised an eyebrow. "I'm not sure, but I still think we should lay low for a bit." As Shin finished his sentence, the black satomobile sped off. They heard sirens coming from the North, Dragon Flats Borough.

"Shin, we have to go. Now. I have to get my mom. They're enforcing the curfew and she's out." Hasook looked paniced and Shin nodded. They dashed through the narrow alleys and side streets, weaving in and out of street lights until the power suddenly disappeared. Hasook felt a chill run down his spine and ran as fast as his legs would carry him until they reached the large clearing at the heart of Dragon Flats.

They looked up to see the imposing searchlights of Police aircraft beaming down on a crowd of people in the center of the plaza. Metalbenders stood behind fences enclosing the crowd with their arms extended threateningly. Shin grabbed Hasook and pulled him back into the shadows of the alley, pointing to a water spicket next to him. He quickly filled Hasook's water skins and they walked back out into the plaza. At the other end of the mob he noticed the black satomobile pull up. Korra and the rest hopped out and rushed up to Tarrlok. After a brief exchange the metalbenders arrested Mako, Bolin and the Sato girl.

"Bolin!" Hasook screamed, but the sound was lost among the panicked yelling of the people trapped inside the fence. Shin scanned the crowd as quickly as possible and noticed Sepay near the middle. "Hasook! She's there!"

Snapped out of the illusion, Hasook saw his mother in the middle of the panicked mob. "Mom!" he screamed, but again the sound was lost. With a motion Tarrlok waved his hand and the metal benders moved in, herding the people like cattle. Hasook could see Korra trying to free them on the other side and took the opportunity to strike. Moving in quickly he lashed out an absurdly sharp water ring at the metalbenders in front of him. The attack broke focus and the fence, ceased to bend. The three metalbenders focusing on the portion turned to face him. Hasook took a defensive stance and noticed Shin doing the same. They were afraid, but that wasn't important.

Droves of people from the abandoned section dispersed into the darnkess, but Hasook had no time to see if Sepay was among them, he was more than occupied with the metalbenders running at him, bearing their claws. Dodging the first officer's blow he quickly blasted him aside with ice. Shin avoided the other officer's attack and used his momentum to thow him into the third. Shin's hair was a mess as he turned to Hasook, nodding.

In a flash, Hasook retreated back a few feet to the fire hydrant and pulled the water below forcefully up, causing it to burst, flooding the ground. Hasook smirked. With the water as his feet he charged back into battle, using long tendrils of water to toss the metalbenders aside. As the other metalbenders charged in to assist their comrades, Hasook Whipped his hands up and drawing them closer to his torso. The film of water below the airborne officers froze and large icicles began firing out of the ground at them. No sooner than the icicles had left the ground, Hasook straightened his back and began moving his arms in broad circular strokes, firing high speed discs of razor sharp water at the attacking police. They launched their cables at him, hoping to snare Hasook before he could do any more damage, but a quick change of direction in his attack easily sliced the approaching cables.

Shin was sparring with one metalbender to Hasook's left, fairing decently well even without his bending. In a lull of the assault, Hasook blasted the metalbender into the nearby building. "GO! GET OUT OF HERE. I'LL COVER YOU." Shin looked concerned, but nodded resolutely and ran off into the darkness. Hasook stood his ground, noting that the Avatar and many of the nonbenders had disappeared. Between blows he noticed a tall male figure wading through the rubble towards him.

"STOP. OFFICERS, STAND DOWN." It was Tarrlok.

Hasook wiped the blood from his cheek and stood tall, trying his best to seem unfazed by the man.

Tarrlok walked closer, "Who do you think you are impeding justice?"

With a caustic tone, Hasook fired back, "In what world does justice involve imprisoning innocents?"

Tarrlok smirked, "These people are non-benders and violated the law. That does not go unpunished."

"That's an idiot's reasoning. They are victims of your biased laws."

The taller man laughed. "How quaint, a waterbender fighting for the rights of non-benders despite their desire to destroy you."

"All that proves is that I'm a stronger man than you. You're a coward." Hasook pointed a finger at Tarrlok.

Tarrlok was infuriated and screamed. "You really think that?"

Hasook was honestly in no way confident in his ability to beat Tarrlok, but he had to try. "Right here, right now. No police to help you."

"You're an idiot and you'll see how wrong you are in just a moment. Chief Saikhan, leave us now, close off this block."

The police chief nodded in compliance and the officers darted off into the sky. Tarrlok grinned hungrily, "You have no idea what you've gotten yourself into, little boy."

Hasook resumed a defensive stance, ready to take whatever attack Tarrlok would throw at him. Before he could blink a sharp blade of water was launched at him, barely allowing him to deflect it in time. Hasook dodged and responded with a flurry of water discs launched using the Foggy Swamp stance he'd observed Doka use before. Tarrlok bounded over the first wave and launched a blast of ice at Hasook to break his focus. Pivoting in his stance, Hasook used his feet to draw up a large blast of water and propelled it through his arms at Tarrlok who blocked the attack with a shell of water. Moving swiftly the older man, began firing shards of sharpened ice at Hasook, grazing his arms and legs multiple times before he responded. As he dodged the first onslaught, Hasook quickly drew up thick tendrils of water around him, adopting the octopus form. With the protection of the technique he was able to fend off Tarrlok's assauly and began launching huge icicles at him in retaliation. Tarrlok liquefied them with ease and fired them back as a spray of ice daggers.

As Tarrlok reveled in repelling Hasook's icicles, Hasook quickly bent the water near Tarrlok into long tendrils and tried to ensnare the elder bender. Tarrlok was taken by surprise and had to fight to escape the tendrils, launching another wave of ice daggers at Hasook before charging in. A blast of water caught Tarrlok off guard and sent him careening backwards.

Hasook laughed through heavy breaths, "Not so tough now, are ya?"

Tarrlok stood up with a cold fire in his eyes. Hasook immediately recognized that he needed to be ready for anything and circled Tarrlok defensively. The councilman flipped the straw hairs off of his shoulder and yelled, "ENOUGH."

Hasook felt a shiver in his bones, but he was unable to move. He looked frantically at the ground thinking that Tarrlok had encased him in ice, but the truth was much darker. Tarrlok stood in front of him with a grin on his face. Twisting his hands like a puppeteer, Hasook's arms contorted painfully. He recognized it immediately as bloodbending, but the full moon wasn't due for another few weeks. Tarrlok walked closer and forced Hasook to his knees.

"I bet you're feeling rather stupid right now." Tarrlok laughed coldly, "As you should be. You were a fool to think yourself better than me." He pulled Hasook down into a kneeling bow.

Hasook still had control of his voice and he planned to use it. "That might be, but I wasn't the one who had to use my trump card to win."

Tarrlok was consumed with rage and slammed Hasook forcefully into the ground. Pulling him up like a puppet on strings, Tarrlok flung him into the surrounding walls repeatedly, revelling in the satisfying crunch of a cracked rib. Satisfied with himself, Tarrlok pulled Hasook to his feet and forced him to walk behind him to the police station.

Levels below the lobby, Hasook was tossed into a cell by Tarrlok's bloodbending. As he shut the door and locked it, Tarrlok laughed. "You should really consider yourself priveleged. Most people who get to see me use that don't live, but I can't wait to watch you suffer."

Hasook stood up weakly and looked at Tarrlok through the bars. "Your overconfidence is what's going to end you. I hope Amon takes your bending away and I get to watch every second of it. Shouldn't be too shocking of a meeting considering how alike you two are."

Tarrlok grunted and bloodbent Hasook into the rear wall of the cell, before storming off. 


	21. Repelling the Invasion

It had been about 5 days since his arrest, but the memory was still as fresh in his mind as if it had happened only minutes before. He could still feel his skin crawl at the intrusive feeling of having his muscles painfully contorted like the limbs of a marionette. Tarrlok had broken the taboo and used bloodbending against him. Of course there were no witnesses to attest for what Hasook had seen, but living the moment again and again in his mind was terrifying. Hasook had seen the heinous art performed one other time during a visit to the Northern Water Tribe. During the night of the full moon, a rogue soldier went about robbing folks blind until the masters were able to subdue him. The images were burned into his memory.

More than anything, he wanted a chance to prove himself against Tarrlok, but if the whispers he'd heard around the prison were true, it was doubtful that he'd ever get the chance. The word around town was that Tarrlok tried the same thing against other people and even kidnapped the Avatar, but despite his unbelievable power, Tarrlok had lost his powers against Amon.

Hasook was jarred away by the metallic clang of keys against the cell door. A metalbender was standing outside with a stony disposition.

"Councilman Tenzin and the others have decreed the arrests under Tarrlok's policies invalid. You are free to go."

Hasook stared at the man in disbelief. He knew the arrest was unjust, but he never expected to be released to quickly. Not willing to let this chance pass him by, Hasook nodded silently, collected his clothes and followed the officer to the building's entrance. As he followed the metal-clad man through the winding corridors, the officer told him that they'd sent a wire to his family to come retrieve him. Walking into the large open atrium of the station, Hasook noticed his mother and Shin on a nearby bench, with their backs to him.

"Mom, Shinook!" They both turned, smiling wildly. The metalbender walked away wordlessly as Hasook ran up to embrace them. "I missed you guys so much."

Sepay was near tears, "Honey, when Shin told me you'd gotten arrested, I was terrified." After hugging him, her expression changed instantaneously and she smacked him upside the head. "Look at me. Never do that again or the police won't be the ones who you'll be running from."

Prying Hasook's sweaty body from Sepay's vicegrip, Shin hugged him. "I really missed ya, man. You scared me somethin' fierce." Hasook wrapped his hands around the taller man and hugged him in return. As he pulled away, his hand grazed Shin's backside, eliciting a glare from him as Hasook turned away, embarassed. It was an accident. Shin patted him on the shoulder and suggested that they all headed home.

"...so I said to him, '30 Yuan for my hard labor? That just won't do.' And after a little persuasion," Shin hit his hand with his balled fist,"let's just say ol' Chan was more than happy to fork over some more bills." Shin opened the door to the small home as he delivered the final lines of his stories down at the dock from while Hasook was in prison. He seemed to find them hilarious, but Sepay was less than amused with the fighting, smacking him on the head with a rolled up newspaper once they were inside. "Jeez, Sepay, it's just a story, no need to go crazy on me." She smirked, laying the paper aside and rushing into the kitchen to heat up some rice.

Hasook was a bit concerned that they hadn't seen Alignak or the other Monsoon on guard during the walk back through Shu Dai. After joining Shin at the table he decided to try and find out some details. "So I didn't see the Monsoons anywhere. What happened?" Shin's eyes dropped and he sunk in his chair.

"Dunno, but from what I've heard, Amon and his goons went and raided the Monsoons and the Agnis earlier this week, took almost all of 'em, but none your age so I doubt Doka er whateva was there at the time. Ain't seen Alignak and the other mook for a day or two now." Shin could see Hasook was visibly perturbed. Wanting to comfort him in anyway he could, Shin placed his hand on top of Hasook's. "Don't worry, I'm sure they're okay." Hasook nodded weakly.

After everyone had turned in for the night, Shin lay in bed wide awake. He'd been staring at the ceiling for hours, trying to nod off from boredom, but something was keeping him up. He glanced over at Hasook lying next to him and thought immediately back to earlier when Sepay and himself had gone to pick Hasook up from the station. He remembered hugging him and he also remembered what felt like Hasook's hand graze his backside. Shin realized the incident was only an accident in all likelihood, but still it made him think about how he'd grown a lot closer to Hasook while living with him. He'd liked the boy from the first week of living with his family, but Hasook always seemed so aloof and interested in either bending or someone else, that Shin never felt it was appropriate to share. Shin wanted more than anything just for Hasook to be happy, regardless if that meant having something with him on a level above friendship. He noticed Hasook cringe in his sleep, most likely from a nightmare, and leaned over to pull the blanket over him.

Shin stepped out of bed and pulled on his clothes quickly and quietly. Grabbing a small rucksack and his knife, Shin ventured out into the dark alleys.

After nearly a week's journey roundtrip, Doka was back in Republic City. He'd followed his friends in accompanying his family to safety in the Swamp and asked Nahele and Siku to stay with them for protection. Climbing out of the small skiff onto the Western docks, Doka quickly made his way through the winding alleyways to the Red Monsoon headquarters. He noticed immediately the lack of a guardsman at the entrance and ran inside.

With cupped hands around his mouth, Doka shouted, "Guys? Igaluk? Alignak? You guys here?" However he received no response. Rushing through the house, Doka noticed debris and broken furniture strewn across the floor. Some water pooled in the floor's imperfections. "No."

From the ornate living room, he rushed to the top floor, to Igaluk's office. The door was hanging on its hinges. As he pushed the broken doors aside, Doka was struck immediately but the sight of a huge "Equality" graffiti on the moon mural behind Igaluk's desk. Rushing over to the destroyed desk, Doka noticed something scrawled into the wood, it was a message in code. Digging deep into the recesses of his mind, Doka began to decode the message.

[EQUALIST ATTACK. THEY GOT US ALL. GET OUT WHILE YOU CAN KID.]

Doka slumped against the wall unable to move. They were all gone. Igaluk, Alignak, they'd all been taken by Amon and his goons. He screamed in frustration as his eyes began to well up, "No, this isn't what was supposed to happen. THIS WASN'T SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN! I'm so sorry guys..." He heard a noise coming from below and immediately sprung up, grasping the sword he'd gotten during his trip firmly in his hand. If there was an Equalist there, if they DARED to come here after what they'd done, Doka was not ready to show any mercy. As the footsteps climbed the stairs and got closer, Doka readied himself to strike. A man stepped through the threshold of Igaluk's ruined office and before he could see who it was, Doka lunged in to attack. Shin managed to dodge at the last second falling to the ground as beads of sweat rolled down his forehead. Doka rushed at him again with an killer's intent in his eyes.

Shin threw up his hands and shouted, "Wait! I'm here to see Doka." The sword hovered inches above his skull. "I'm friends with Hasook, Doka's boyfriend or whateva."

Doka lifted the sword and resheathed it in the scabbard at his side. "Who are you?"

Shin stood up and brushed himself off, "Name's Shin and you are?"

"Doka."

Shin was shocked that he was looking at Doka the whole time. The man fit Hasook's descriptions very well. Tall, dark brown hair, green eyes, light, swampbender complexion. Not bad. Shin extended a hand which Doka grasped and shook. "Nice to finally meet ya."

Doka didn't respond, rather maintained his serious appearance. Unsure how to respond, Shin looked around at the destroyed office. "What happened here? Get in an argument with the other Monsoons?" Although the question was posed with levity, Doka didn't respond well, shoving Shin backwards into the nearby wall.

He turned away, "They're gone. Amon got them."

Shin rubbed his arm to lessen the sting from the impact, but heard the somber statement from Doka. He figured it'd probably be better to remain silent this time rather than get attacked again. Doka seemed to have a few screws loose from the news that Amon got the Monsoons and the last thing Shin wanted to do was provoke him. He took a seat against the wall and waited for Doka to speak again.

Almost half an hour passed before the silence was broken.

"Is Hasook alright?" Doka mumbled from across the room.

Shin sighed and responded, "Yeah, he just got out of prison today."

"Did...does he still have his bending?" Doka turned, but neglected to make eye contact.

"Yeah it was the fuzz that got 'im, not Amon." Shin walked over to Doka and placed a hand on his shoulder, "C'mon, I'll take ya to see him. You can crash with us for the night."

Doka nodded and followed Shin across the city to the small home nestled in the heart of Shu Dai.

Once they arrived, Shin showed Doka over to where he usually slept and offered him the spot for the night while he crashed on the couch. Shin pulled off his shirt, revealing the branched lightning shaped scar on his chest before he laid himself down on the couch. He noticed as Doka pulled off his outer layers of clothing and climbed into bed next to Hasook before turning away from the scene so he could sleep.

That morning Hasook was awoken by the chill of the extinguished hearth. As he jumped out of bed to go relight the flame and warm the house, he noticed that Shin's clothes were laid next to the couch, where their owner lay sleeping. Only after the flame was rekindled did he realize that someone else was in the bed with him. The key question was who though, considering Shin was resting on the nearby couch. Tiptoeing quietly over to the bed, he peeled back the sheet to reveal the mystery man's face. "Doka." Hasook's heart skipped a beat. What was Doka doing here? How did he get here? Neither of those questions seemed important enough to ask in this moment though. He leaned over the sleeping body before him and placed a kiss squarely on the lips. Doka's hand stirred from slumber and pressed against Hasook's face. He parted his lips and leaned into the kiss, lashing tongues with Hasook before breaking for breath.

"I missed you," he managed to get out in a groggy voice, "I'm glad you're okay."

Hasook leaped onto the bed next to Doka, "How did you-"

"Shin."

He smiled and looked over at the shirtless man curled up on the couch. "I'll have to thank him later."

Doka turned over and sat up to explain everything that had happened since they'd last seen one another. After what seemed like an eternity of recounting the horrors of the past weeks, Doka finally sighed and said, "And that's pretty much it." Hasook grabbed his hand and kissed him gently on the cheek.

"I'm just glad you're alive." Looking at the clock, Hasook realized it was almost noon. As he stood up to wake Shin and his mother, a huge kaboom shook the ground below them. Sepay ran into the room.

"What was that noise? It sounded like-" she paused when she noticed Doka sitting next to Hasook on the bed.

"I'll explain later, but I think it was an explosion." Shin jumped up and they all rushed to the window to look outside. Airships with giant Equalist insignia were filling the sky. Explosions could be seen near the docks. "Oh no."

Without a word, they all pulled on their clothes as quickly as possible and rushed out into the alley. Hasook turned to his mother, "Mom, get out of here. Stay hidden, I have to go make sure everyone's okay." She nodded silently as Shin, Doka, and Hasook ran off towards the explosion.

"Be careful!"

When they reached the docks it was utter chaos. Explosions rocked the area and the anchored ships sat half-sunken and smashed in port. Everywhere they looked, Hasook, Shin, and Doka saw strange mechanical figures with hordes of individuals clad in Equalist garb. Shin noticed a group of benders fighting off the onslaught nearby.

"There! Let's go." Shin ran over to one of the gutters hanging on the alley wall and pulled a piece of pipe off to make an improvised weapon. Hasook and Doka followed him closely into the crowd.

Using the huge advantage provided by the proximity to the bay, Hasook pulled up a massive stream of water, sending a swath of the Equalists flying into the bay. Shin jumped from behind him and leaped into the masses beating any Equalist mask he saw with a swift swing of the pipe. After knocking out a pair of Equalists wearing the gloves, Shin quickly abandoned the pipe in favor of the electric weapons. Knodding reassuringly at Hasook, he ran off mowing through the crowd with a crackle of electricity.

Realizing that Hasook was too great a threat with the bay so close, the Equalist grunts turned tail to focus on Doka, Shin and the other trapped benders while the imposing mechs closed in. Hasook was in for the fight of his life. Inhaling deeply, Hasook adopted a defensive stance and waited for one of the attacking mechs to make a move. Meanwhile Doka was busy fighting a number of opponents, parrying their swift kicks and bola strikes with his sword. Finally, the closest mech launched an electrified cable at Hasook, but he was prepared. With a swift adjustment of his footing, Hasook dodged the claw and drew up a huge blade of water, slicing the cable. Encircling himself with a massive ring of seawater, Hasook charged the mech, dodging its compatriots before freezing its legs in place. With his target a sitting turtleduck, Hasook bent to the ring into a shell of water around himself. Using a series of sweeping chops and kicks, Hasook flung blades of ice at the armor, knicking it with each strike in the same spot. Drawing a large portion of the water into his protective sphere, Hasook punched out forcefully, launching a huge icicle spear right through the mech's center, causing an explosion and launching the pilot right into Hasook's range. Catching the man with a tendril of water, Hasook flung him into the mob encircling Doka.

The other mechs began to rush at him to avenge the fallen one. Adjusting his stance, Hasook dodged one of the incoming electrified hooks and redirected it with a curved ice wall, causing it to strike one of the other mechs, causing a short circuit. Taking the opportunity provided by the shock, Hasook ran at the charging machines, launching a huge assault of water at them, knocking several over. Skating along the wet surface, Hasook moved behind them and quickly forced water into the engines and flash froze it, cracking the fuel pipes on two of the machines. Hasook gestured to the waterbender on the nearby dock and together they pulled up a massive stream of water, washing the machines into the bay. "Woohoo!"

His celebrations were cut short by the blast of an explosion nearby, sinking the last of the untouched cargo ships. He looked over to the crowd of benders that had been there when he and the others had arrived, but only a few remained. Rushing over to help, Hasook was forced into close combat with a crowd of Equalist grunts. Donning his weapons of choice, the ice gauntlets, Hasook made his way through the charging hordes. He endured a number of quick strikes from the attackers, feeling his bending grow weaker with each. In an act of desperation and rage, Hasook pulled up a wave of water and encased himself and the Equalists in ice, quickly unfreezing himself after trapping the opposition. Healing the chi blocked points on his arm as much as possible in the timeframe, Hasook darted towards the benders, whose numbers had dwindled even further. Shin was on the other side of the dock, easily handling his fair share with the electro gloves he'd "borrowed". But where was Doka?

Scanning the crowds, Hasook spotted Doka with one arm hanging limp, fighting off two or three Equalists. They electrocuted him as he watched. Fueled by adrenaline and rage, Hasook pulled up a membrane of water around himself and punched violently at the Equalists, launching razor sharp blades of ice at them. Their suits and the skin beneath it cut like warm butter on the blades. As they clutched bleeding arms and legs, Hasook launched what remained of his water bubble at them, sending them flying into the bay.

He ran over to Doka laying prone on the ground and began to heal him. Shin noticed Hasook kneeling in the huge crowd of Equalists and shouted, "HASOOK!" Awoken by the sound of his name, Hasook touched a hand to the puddle of water and blood near him and clenched his fist, spawning a flurry of ice needles directed at the encroaching enemies. Impaling a number of the attackers, Hasook stood up and pulled a large ring of water around himself from the bay. Moving his hands wordlessly, he adopted the octopus form and spun around grabbing Equalists with each tentacle. Hoisting them up in the air, he smashed them down into the docks, hearing the satisfying crack of ribs.

Shin looked on in a mix of amazement and terror. Hasook was bending at a level Shin hadn't ever seen from him before. The more disturbing part was the lack of restraint. Hasook's potent mix of anger and anguish took off any mental restraints or safeties he had. This was Hasook at his most dangerous.

Hasook drenched the remaining portions of the Equalists near him with a downpour of rain before grabbing three of the fallen Equalists with tendrils of water. Taking their gloves he walked over to the drenched crowd and touched the puddle of water beneath them, sending a huge current roaring through the group. As he disengaged the glove, they fell to the ground.

He walked over to Doka and resumed healing him until the boy regained consciousness. The Equalists fighting Shin had no intentions of staying around after seeing what Hasook had done to the others and quickly ziplined up to the airships above. Shin ran over to Hasook, "Hasook, we have to get out of here, they're gonna-"

Before Shin could finish his sentence, an explosion rocked the dock and the piers behind Shin collapsed into the water. "Now!" Shin pulled Hasook to his feet and hoisted Doka over his shoulder. As he ran, another bomb was dropped into the water near them, sending them flying into the water. Hasook pulled the group to shore quickly and they stumbled off into the alleys where they couldn't be seen.


End file.
